


What Fades On The Ice

by orphan_account



Series: Fading On Ice [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: AU, Angst, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Long-Haired Victor Nikiforov, M/M, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Young!Victor, Young!Viktor, reverse au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-02-09
Packaged: 2018-09-18 04:21:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 54,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9367733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki was a living legend in the skating world. A living legend that depended on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety tablets to survive.Viktor Nikiforov was a young ‘up-and-coming’ skater who was determined to convince his idol to coach him after an extremely bad result at his last competition.How will Yuuri survive the hurricane that is Viktor Nikiforov?Reverse AU where Yuuri is the skating legend and Viktor is a young skater trying to make it big.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while since I've written anything down (and the first time posting anything here)  
> Please let me know if I've done anything wrong.

“Coach me!”

He stood there in the middle of the ice rink, breathing hard from the routine he had just run through, staring at the silver haired male in front of him. Baffled at not only his presence but also his demand.

He was Yuuri Katsuki, a living legend for winning five consecutive world Championships, five straight Grand Prix Finals and numerous other championships. He had even managed to win gold in the 2014 Olympics.

He was also Yuuri Katsuki, a 23-year-old that suffered from extreme anxiety and depression (not that the public knew that).

“What?” He questioned in little more than a whisper, finally having found his voice. He suddenly shook his head, before glancing back at the silver haired male in front of him. The teen was somewhat recognizable, a Russian skater if he remembered correct.

“Coach me!” The male begged again leaning over the edge of the skating rink.

“No.” Was his immediate responses.

He had finally called it quits, admitting during the interviews at the end of the Grand Prix that he would not be returning in the upcoming season. Though he supposed saying ‘taking a break’ wasn’t exactly ‘calling it quits’, but that’s because his now ex-coach had recommended that it would be easier for the world to accept a break rather than his retirement.

“I don’t coach.” He paused suddenly, remembering where he was and wondering how the hell this kid was even in here. He opened his mouth to voice his very thoughts when another voice interrupted him.

“I’m so sorry, Yuuri. He wouldn’t listen to me and just pushed passed.” He raised a hand and waved her off, smiling slightly at Yuuko, the manager of the very ice rink he was currently standing in the middle of. Yuuko hurried towards the Russian skating, informing the teen that he wasn’t supposed to be in here.

“Please! You need to coach me!” The kid begged again. A sigh left his lips before he pushed himself forward and gilding towards the teen. He came to a stop right in front of the silver haired Russian and eyed him for a moment. “Please! I’ll do anything. I’ll be able to win if you are my coach! I’ll be able to beat everyone! -”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I have no interest in coaching. Go home, kid.” He cut the teen off as he stepped off the ice. He grabbed his blade protectors and glasses off the side of the rink and slid them on before heading towards the exit. “I don’t know why you would come to me of all people. I’m not exactly coaching material.” He called out over his shoulder, hoping the kid would get the message.

“You are Yuuri Katsuki! Five-time consecutive winner of the Grand Prix! Why wouldn’t I want you?” The kid shouted after him. He ignored the shout as he exited the rink, letting the doors shut behind him. If it took him a little longer than normal to undo his skates because his hands were trembling, he choice to ignore it.

***

He expected that to be the end of that. He had hoped that the cold shoulder he had given the teen would encourage him to return back to his country. Instead, he found himself face to face with the teen at the very bathhouse inn that his family owned and ran.

“Coach me!” The Russian demanded. Though all he could do was raise an eyebrow, unable to take the teen seriously with the large brown poodle hanging off the teens back.

“Cute dog.” He said with a small smile, which caused the Russian’s cheeks to suddenly turn an adorable shade of red. The dog suddenly seemed to notice him and bounced over for a pat, which he was all too happy to give to the dog. “What’s his name?” He asked while glancing up at the teen, who had been staring at him with a star-stuck expression. He waited, giving the teen a second to realise he had been asked a question and stutter out an answer.

“H-his n-name is Makkachin.” He nodded his head while returning to the newly identified, Makkachin.

“Aren’t you gorgeous. You remind me very much of the poodle I once had. His name was Vicchan.” He told the dog while he patted him.

“Coach me!” The teen demanded again. Sighing loudly, while straightening up and turning his full attention to the teen.

“I don’t even know who you are. How am I- “

“My name is Viktor Nikiforov. I am 18. We competed in the Grand Prix together.” The Russian stated simply.

“Ah, yes. You ranked last, didn’t you?” He questioned, noticing the way the teen flinched at his ranking. Now that he thought about it, he did remember Viktor’s free skate at the Grand Prix. It had been the only one he had been able to sit through before his anxiety had kicked in. He remembered that the kid had been able to land one quad before everything seemingly fell apart for him. A mixture of nervous, pressure and overthinking, or so he had thought.

“Look Viktor-san, I don’t coach- “

“Please! I know that if you were my couch I’d be able to win. Y-your choreographing ability is one of a kind! And-“ Viktor went quiet as I raised a hand to stop him.

“Viktor-san, I don’t coach- “

“Please!” A tired sigh left his lips as he stared down at the younger male in front of him. He was tired just from this conversation; and all he wanted to do was go soak in the hot spring before retiring to bed.

“Viktor-san,” He started before pausing and staring at the teen for a moment, “Tomorrow, 8am at the Ice Castle. I want to see you skate.” The words were barely out of his mouth before he found himself on the ground with a silver haired male on top of him, hugging him tightly.

“That wasn’t a yes.” He mumbled while pushing the teen off him. Trying to ignore the way his hands shook slightly.

“But it’s not a no! I’ll show you Yuuri! I’ll show you that I’m the perfect person for you to coach!” The Russian said before jumping to his feet and running out of the room, shouting for Makkachin to follow him.

And that was how he found himself sitting on the floor of his family inn, wondering who exactly was Viktor Nikiforov.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuuri hated mornings if he was honest. He hated mornings because mornings were hard. They firstly involved waking up, something that Yuuri struggled with. Some mornings were harder than others.

Today, today he didn't feel the need to bury himself in bed, though he also didn't feel like jumping out of bed with the motivation to try something new. This morning he felt blank. Neither good nor bad. Blank days were more frequent than good days but still not quite up to par with his bad days.

When he was training and competing, it was a common thing to be woken and dragged out of bed by his coach, or well, now ex-coach. As much as he was thankful for everything Celestino did for him over the last 5 or so years, he was sort of glad he was no longer being woken up by him every morning.

He took a few deep breaths before climbing out of bed and stumbling his way across the room and towards his desk where the second problem with mornings was. Medication. Although very few knew it, he was a mess. How he ever became a living legend in the skating world was beyond him.

He had originally been diagnosed with anxiety when he was 10. After years of his parents worrying about his poor social skills, they had decided to take him to a psychiatrist, where he had been diagnosed with anxiety, which explained his lack of social skills. He had been put onto medication right away, and it had helped originally. He started to be a little more outgoing, which sort of resulted in where he was now. He had picked up ice-skating. Had started taking classes until he caught Celestino eye at the ripe age of 16. Within 2 years of Celestino finding him, he won his first Grand Prix and the legend began.

He was 20 when he was diagnosed with depression. He was halfway through his legendary streak when everything started to become harder. Not just skating but life. Getting out of bed, getting changed, even eating had turned into a struggle. Celestino send him to a psychiatrist when he finally got to his wits ends, and that was how he found out he also suffered from depression.

He opened his draw and pulled out two prescription bottles, he carefully removed one tablet from each of the bottles before returning them to their rightful place on his desk draw. He took a few deep breathes before tilting his head back and dropping the tablets into his mouth. He winced as he swallowed them before quickly grabbed the bottle of water that was always on his nightstand and washing the awful taste that came with the tablets away.

With the two hardest parts of the day, over and done with, Yuuri decided it was probably about time he got ready. Otherwise he was going to be late to the meet up he had organised with a certain silver headed teen. And who knows what the teen would do if he didn't show up. Probably go back to demanding things like a spoilt brat again.

Yuuri took a deep breath before he started getting ready. Changing into some workout gear and packing everything he would need today into a bag.

He greeted his mum in the kitchen as he wondered in to grab something quick to nibble on.

"Yuuri, who is that charming young man that arrived yesterday?" He paused slightly and adjusted his glasses.

"Who, mother?" He asked with a tilt of his head, noticing that his mother was offering him a bowl of rice. He took it with a small thank you.

"The young silver headed boy. The one that came with his dog. He demanded to see you as soon as he arrived." He blinked; so, that was how Viktor had tracked him down yesterday. Though he did suppose it would be ridiculously to search for a figure skating anywhere else but in the skating rink.

"He's a Russian skater. He wants me to coach him." He explained as he plucked a pair of chopsticks from the cutlery draw and began to nibble on the rice he had been given.

"Coaching? What a brilliant idea! Especially on your season off!" He coughed loudly as a mouthful of rice went down the wrong way. He stared at his mother with a look of horror.

"Mother, t-th-th-this is me we are talking about. I can’t, no, I could never coach someone." He coughed out while trying to catch his breath, causing his mother to roll her eyes and handed him a cup of tea.

"Coaching would be good for you. And this boy-"

"Viktor." His mother nodded with a smile.

"This Viktor seems like a perfect match for you. He seems like the exact opposite of you. Outgoing, demanding, expressive. I'm sure the boy would really benefit from having you as his coach." He stared at her for a moment while taking a long sip of tea before placing his cup down.

"Maybe." He mumbled while setting down the rest of his rice beside his tea. "I'll be off." He said while scooping up his bag.

"Yuuri! You didn't finish your food." His mother called out after him as he hurried out of the room, heading for the front door.

"Not hungry. I'm heading to the rink." He called out as he paused long enough to slip on his shoes. He took a deep breath as he exited the inn, taking in the salty breeze before he started to jog towards the Ice Castle.

Why did everyone suddenly think he could coach? And a good one at that?

He hated attention, hated interviews, which was something that a coach was required to do. Not to mention he had never taught anyone in his life.

Why would coaching be good for him?


	3. Chapter 3

“He’s been here for hours.” Was the first thing he was greeted with as he entered the Ice Castle. He blinked as he stared at Yuuko in confusion. She stood off to the side, staring out over the rink. He walked over to join her before following Yuuko’s gaze to figure out what she was talking about.

And there he was, standing in the middle of the ice with his eyes closed, standing as still as an ice sculpture. Then the music began and it was like watching a statue come to life. It was the free skate he had used in the Grand Prix, Yuuri could tell that from a mile away. But unlike at the Grand Prix, everything seemed to be perfect. He landed all his jumps, including two quads, though Yuuri noticed that they were all at the start of the routine, which wasn’t uncommon. Most figure skaters didn’t have the stamina to perform such taxing jumps in the second half. He was the only person that could that he was aware of.

“He was waiting outside when I arrived and begged to use the rink.” Yuuko mumbled as they watched the young Russian skate through his routine.

“He wants me to coach him.” He said with a sigh.

“You’d be good for him.” Yuuko agreed.

“Why does everyone think that?” He demanded while stepping away from the window. “Why does everyone think I can coach? I can’t coach! I’ve never coached before! I-I-I-“ He shouted, failing to notice the way his breathing speed up and his hands start to tremble. No, no, no. Not now. He didn’t need a panic attack right now.

“Yuuri, Yuuri.” Yuuko said softly, reaching out her hands to grab his own. “Deep breaths.” She said before she started to softly walking him through his normal breathing routine. It took only a couple of minutes for Yuuri to calm down, all thanks to Yuuko’s soft voice and patience.

“Better?” Yuuko asked with a soft smile, only when he nodded his head did she let go of his hands.

“I think coaching would be good for you. Why? Because it has been clear for a while that you were struggling with motivation. Your routines didn’t have the same feel to them they used to. I think coaching might be a nice change. A change that could bring back that motivation.” He stood there staring at Yuuko with wide eyes for a moment before his gaze slide back towards the rink where Viktor stood hunched over, breathing hard. Some strands of hair had fallen out of his ponytail which blocked his eyes from view.

“If you can’t do it, Yuuri, you can’t do it. But don’t say you can’t till you try.” Yuuko said softly before slapping his back and pushing him towards the doors.

“Go on, go put your skate on. Don’t keep the kid waiting too much longer.” She said before turning away and heading back towards her office.

“Thanks Yuuko-chan.” He called out after her while sitting down on a bench and hurrying to put his skates on. Maybe she was right, maybe he needed a change.

***

“Yuuri! You came.” Viktor shouted as Yuuri entered the room, skates on and ready to skate.

“I said I would.” He mumbled while moving towards the rink.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Viktor shouted before he could step into the rink. “I want to show you my skating.” He raised an eyebrow at the teen before walking over to the speakers Yuuko had clearly set up for the boy.

“I say your routine just before. The routine you used in your free skate.” He commented as the teen skated with him.

“Oh,” Viktor mumbled, “And?” He asked, clearly nervous.

“What happened at the Grand Prix?” Yuuri questioned with a tilt of his head. “It is clear that if you had nailed even half of the jumps you had planned you wouldn’t have scored last.” He stared at the teen who suddenly refused to meet his gaze. He waited, waited for whatever excuse the teen had.

“Can… Can I show you a different routine?” Was what broke the silence that had fallen over them. Yuuri raised an eyebrow before shrugging; the teen shot him a dazzling smile before fiddling with his phone for a moment.

“Okay, can you push play for me.” Viktor said while handing his phone over.

“Sure.” He said, taking the phone and watching the Russian skater glide to the centre of the rink and take a deep breath.

“Okay.” Viktor said while sending him a determined look, which made him curious to what routine the teen wanted to show him so badly. He hit play and the second the music started he knew what routine the teen had chosen. A smirk appeared on the teen’s lips before he sent a wink his way and the magic began. He lifted a hand to cover his mouth, half to hide his blush and also to cover his mouth that had dropped open in surprise.

Viktor was skating his routine. He was skating ‘In Regards to Love: Eros’ and he was doing it well. Sure, he had seen a few other skaters preform his routine on YouTube but there was a way that Viktor did it, he moved like he understood Eros. Understood the sexual passion and desire that Eros represented.

He remembered creating the routine; it had been a random idea in his head at first. He was always told about how good-looking he looked, especially when his hair was pushed back in competition. So, he decided to make a routine, on the desire everyone pushed upon him. The results had been incredible, not only had the routine gone down well with the judges but also with the audience.

Before he knew it, the music came to a stop and there, Viktor Nikiforov, stood in the middle of the ice, breathing hard with his eyes closed. A small chuckle left his lips as he dropped his hands from his mouth and brought them together to give the boy a round of applause.

Viktor’s eyes snapped open at the applause he was getting and he smiled shyly while giving a small bow.

“So, um, what did you think?” The teen asked while skating towards him.

“You don’t need me for anything.” Yuuri said with a soft smile, which was clearly not what Viktor wanted to here.

“No! I do need you!” The teen said while grabbing onto the edge of the rink and leaning over it.

“Why? You jump beautifully, and can land two different quads that I saw- “

“I can land three.” Viktor corrected him.

“Your step sequences, though not perfect, are still pretty good. And you need to work on the entry and exit of your spins. Other than that, you just need a coach that can help you keep your composure during competitions.” He explained with a shrug.

“So, you’ll coach me, right?” Viktor asked with a bright grin, causing Yuuri to sigh.

“No, I just said you needed a coach who can help you keep your- “

“And you can that! You always keep your composure during competitions.” Viktor declared. Yuuri stared at the wide-eyed, hopeful teen in front of him.

“Viktor, I can’t-“ He stared off before Viktor cut him off with a heartbroken look.

“Why not?” The teen demanded. “You’re Yuuri Katsuki! Why can’t you coach me!”

“Because I can’t help you!” He finally snapped before raising a hand to rub his forehead. “I can barely help myself these days. So, just go home. Find a coach that can actually help you.” He mumbled with a sigh before turning his back on the teen and heading towards the door. He was barely three steps away from the teen when he felt a hand grab his jacket sleeve.

“I want you to coach me.” Viktor mumbled weakly, “You’re my idol. You are the reason I started skating. You were the reason I made it to the Grand Prix last year. Please… I’ve got nothing left. Yakov refuses to coach me anymore, not after my failure at the Grand Prix. All the other coaches I’ve spoken too are taken or refuse to coach me. Please.” Yuuri turned to the teen to see a few tears rolling down his cheeks. “Y-you’re my last chance.”


	4. Chapter 4

Yuuri stared at Viktor Nikiforov, finally taking the teen in.

The eighteen-year-old Russian boy was gorgeous to say the least. With his long silvery hair that fell so perfectly, even when strands escaped the ponytail he used in an attempt to tame it. The teen’s eyes were another eye catcher, a soul-expressive blue. Yuuri almost felt plain against the Russian teen.

He gently removed the hand holding his sleeve; the heartbreaking look that appeared on the teens face didn’t go unnoticed as he moved to walk away. He paused beside the rinks entry to remove his blade protectors before slipping onto the ice. He turned and saw the Russian skater staring at him with a mixture of hope and confusion. Damn, those boys’ eyes were truly a look into his soul.

“Why am I your last chance? There are plenty of coaches who have more than one skater, how are they taken?” The Russian boy stayed where he was beside the edge of the rink while giving him a small shrug in reply.

“Did you try talking to Celestino-“ He started before cutting himself off when he received a nod.

“He… he was the one that recommended talking to you. He told me you would be here.” Yuuri nodded, so that explained how the Russian skater had found him. After he announced his break, he had basically packed up everything in his former home rink in Detroit and returned home. He didn’t tell anyone but his former coach and his family. He thought maybe some time at home would help with everything.

“One more question,” He said while tilting his head to the side, “What happened at the Grand Prix?”

The teen eyes slowly dropped to the ground, clearly not wanted to talk about the topic. But before he could be prompted again, he received a large sigh.

“I landed a jump awkwardly in my short... Early in my short.” The teen admitted, “I… I did something to my knee. I didn’t mention it to Yakov and that’s why he won’t accept me back. He said that I need some time off. He said I’m too stubborn for my own good, and he’s upset that I didn’t think to mention to him that I injured myself. The injury was minor; I actually just got the okay by my physiotherapist to go back onto the ice.” Yuuri stared at the boy with a frown before sighing.

“We will start by going over your entry and exit of a scratch spin.” He stated while slipping his glasses off and setting them beside his blade protectors on the edge of the rink.

“Wait! Does that mean you’re going to be my coach?” Viktor said while skating over.

“No.” He said quickly, “I am not agreeing to be your coach. But I’ll give you a few pointers and if you can impress me before the Russian Nationals, maybe I’ll agree.” Yuuri said while pushing his hair back and out of his eyes. He suddenly found himself on his back with Viktor hugging him. He gave a small smile before patting the teen on the back.

“Come on, Viktor. Get off, the ice is cold.” He chuckled, which only turned into a laugh at the teen’s squeal, which quickly turned into a string of apologies as they got up off the ice.

“Now, as I said before, we will start by going over your entry and exit of a scratch spin. Watch closely.” He said before he pushed off, skating a lap around the rink before demonstrating the scratch spin for the Russian teen.

***

He placed a bowl of katsudon in front of Viktor as he lets the teen talk a mile a minute about the training they had done today to Makkachin, like the poodle understand every word and was nodding along. He smiled as he sat down across from the teen with a bowl of miso soup and some rice. The Russian shouted his thanks to his mother, who was still cooking away for some of the other customers they had.

“Wait, where’s yours, Yuuri?” Viktor asked with a frown.

“Oh, I’m not having one. I gain weight too easily, so I only let myself have one after I win something. This is a treat, Viktor. Don’t be expecting another bowl for a while.” The teen stared at him hard for a moment before glancing down at the dish in front of him.

“Is it really that good?” He questioned before taking his first bite. There was an immediate hum of approval before the teen was digging into his bowl like he had never eaten before. He chuckled as he started to eat his own meal, happily nibbling on the rice. He was about half way through the rice and miso when a plate of vegetables was placed in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at his sister, who gave him a calculated look before she glanced at Viktor.

“So, this is the brat mum said you are taking on.” He sighed as he picked up one of the vegetables and popped it into his mouth.

“Not confirmed.” He mumbled around it.

“Yet!” Viktor said while pointing his chopsticks at the pair. He chuckled softly while turning back to his sister.

“Yet.” He agreed, “Viktor this is my older sister, Mari. Mari, meet Russian skater Viktor Nikiforov.” He introduced the two as Mari sat down to join them.

“’Sup kid.” Mari greeted before turning her attention to him, “Mum says to eat more.” She said while pouring herself a cup of tea.

“Mum always says to eat more.” He mumbled as he ate some more of the vegetables that had been placed in front of him. The pair of them glanced towards Viktor who had almost completely finished his bowl of katsudon.

“Is this the food that God eats?” The Russian mumbled, causing the two Katsuki’s to chuckle at the teens rambling.

“Oh boy, this one is a keeper, Yuuri.” He gave a small chuckle in agreement. It was starting to seem like Viktor was a keeper. After all, in less than 24 hours, he had somehow agreed to train the kid, who knows how long until the Russian somehow convinces him to coach him.


	5. Chapter 5

“How have you been? Eating, right? Taking your medication, right?” Yuuri chuckled at his best friend, Phichit Chulanont, who eyed him closely through the face-time screen.

“Yes, mother.” He replied sarcastically with a small smile. Phichit had been his rink-mate and roommate for the last 3 or so years while in Detroit.

When they had meet, Yuuri was coming off his first clean sweep of Worlds and Grand Prix, while Phichit had been a 17-year-old boy who had just arrived in America for the first time with hope of becoming a professional figure skater under Celestino coaching.

Somehow, despite their skill differences, they had just clicked and became best friends.

Phichit had been with him during some of the harder times, even managing to save his life during one of his really bad moments.

Despite everything though, Phichit had stuck by him. And promoted himself to ‘Yuuri’s second mum’ somewhere along the lines. When they lived together, Phichit always made sure he ate enough and had his tablets. Now they were no longer living together, it was a continuous stream of messages reminding him to eat, take his tablet and to face-time if he ever wanted to talk. And Phichit seriously meant, ever.

“All jokes aside, how is everything?” Phichit asked with a bright smile that Yuuri couldn’t help but return.

“Good. It’s nice to be back. No one has figured out I’m home, well, almost no one.” He said while scratching the back of his head.

“Ah, so he found you than! That Russian skater!” He blinked a few times before nodding his head.

“Yeah, Viktor Nikiforov, he came a few days ago.” He admitted with a shrug.

“Yes! Him! He came here, demanding that Celestino become his coach.” Phichit said with a grin as he reached up to his shoulder to catch one of his hamsters before it stumbled off.

“Oh?” Yuuri said while leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah. Celestino and Viktor had this really long conversation before Viktor skated for Celestino. He was okay, I mean, he wasn’t you, but he was better than me. He landed two out of four quads. Two, Yuuri!” Phichit whined with a pout. “And Celestino says out of nowhere, ‘Maybe you should ask Yuuri Katsuki to be your coach’.” His friend stated, clearly still confused by the whole situation. “No pause to think if you were mentally stable enough to do it. There is a reason you are taking a break after all. And Celestino, just, he just, he’s sends a Russian skater your way with the hope of being coached by the ‘Legendary Yuuri Katsuki’” Phichit finishes his little story with a grossed-out face, clearly annoyed with his current coach. But Yuuri knew it was just a moment of annoyance. Phichit had the bad habit of worrying too much about him, and getting annoyed when other people put too much pressure on him.

“I agreed to give the kid some tips.” He admitted while glancing everywhere but the screen.

“You what?!” Phichit gasped, “And you didn’t tell me sooner! I thought we were friends, Yuuri! Best friends!” He chuckled at his friends over exaggerated response before he gave a small shrug.

“I mean… it gives me something to do. And I haven’t agreed to coach him. But he is so set on it, saying he will prove to me that he is worthy of my coaching skills or something.” He said, waving his hand in the air in a circular motion to get his point across. Phichit raised an eyebrow and stared for a hard moment, long enough to start to worry me.

“Phichit? If something wrong? Your camera didn’t freeze, did it?” He questioned while tapping his own camera in worry. He let out a sigh of relief when Phichit rolled his eyes and crossed his arms across his chest.

“You are starting to think about it.” His friend said before groaning at the slight tilt of head he got in response. “You are seriously thinking of becoming his coach! Yuuri! You can’t! You think it is hard being a skater? Imagine the pressure on the coaches! You can’t do that to yourself! Remember last time it got too much?” He bit his lip in response; of course, he remembered what happen last time it got too much. Phichit had been there, and if he hadn’t who knows if he would be sitting here today.

“I… I don’t know yet, Phichit. I just don’t know.” He said while sending his friend a small, uncertain smile.

***

“Yuuuuuuuuuuri!” He groaned in annoyance as he woke to someone calling his name. He grabbed his covers and attempted to pull them over his head, only for two lumps to jump onto the bed, making the covers too heavy to pull up.

“Yuuri! Yuuuuuri! It’s morning! Come on, wake up~” He let out a groan of annoyance before slowly sitting up to see who was demanding his attention. He rubbed at one of his eyes while reaching out for his glasses. Once his glasses were securely in place, he blinked at the two lumps that were now identified on his bed. He was met with a bright smile from one Viktor Nikiforov and one doggy grin from Viktor’s handsome, Makkachin.

“What time is it?” He asked with a groan.

“8:37 in the morning.” Viktor said with a bright grin. “And you promised to show me your triple axel.” Sighing softly, Yuuri did somewhat remembering a promise of a triple axel after he was randomly asked if the rumours of him landing a quad axel were true (which he neither confirmed nor denied. Because he swore he did while Phichit said he didn’t and it was easier to go neither than pick one).

“Fine, fine. Go get some breakfast, I’ll be out in a minute.” He mumbled while sliding his feet to the edge of the bed.

“I’ll save you some.” Viktor said while hurrying out of the room with Makkachin at his heels. Yuuri smiled softly while getting off his bed and stretching his hands above his head, letting out a yawn. He made his way over to his desk and did his normal routine of taking his medication before getting changed and heading towards the dining area. He was halfway there when it occurred to him, that he had no trouble getting up this morning. He didn’t have a single problem. He didn’t have to decide what type of day it was or even try and convince himself to get up and out of bed.

It brought a small smile to his face as he entered the dining area and joined Viktor at the table he was seated at. He thanked his mother as she brought out their food, noticing that he had a much larger than normal.

“Can we practice some more jumping today? I want-“ He shook his head before the teen had even finished his sentence.

“No more quads.” He stated simply, earning him a gasp from the teen.

“What? Why?” Viktor demanded.

“Because I don’t want you injuring yourself right after recovering from an injury, no matter how minor it was. We will only practice triples if you want to practice jumps at all.” He stated while picking up his cup of tea. “Now eat your breakfast and we will head for the rink.” He said, earning a cheer from the Russian across from him. Unbeknown to him, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he ate his own breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to mention that an quad axel jump is one of the highest ranking jumps and that no one in history has ever tried this jump (yet) in competition.


	6. Chapter 6

Viktor was unable to shake the excitement that came with training with his idol.

He was training with Yuuri Katsuki after all! The Yuuri Katsuki!

It was so unreal, especially as he ran towards the Ice Castle with said idol. It had been a week, though it felt longer. He had spent a week saying in the same house as Yuuri Katsuki.

He let a grin slip onto his face as he turned to his side to look at his now mentor only to notice he wasn’t there. He came to a halt and span around to see Yuuri staring in the direction of the Ice Castle. He frowned and turned to follow the Japanese man’s gaze only to spot the crowd of paparazzi outside the skating rink.

“How did they…” He heard Yuuri mumbled under his breath before turning his gaze onto him. “Viktor.” He chuckled nervously while starting to fiddle with the end of his ponytail.

“I didn’t do much. I mean, I did post a few pictures of Hasetsu on instagram.” He mumbled while looking anywhere but at Yuuri before he gasped. “Oh, Oh! And I posted a picture of you, mid spin! The axel spin! I posted it with a best comment.” He said with a cheeky grin, “I wrote ‘guess what I saw today’ with a few winky faces. And the reaction was priceless.” He said, unable to help the laugh that left his mouth.

“You did WHAT!?” Yuuri asked with wide eyes. “Viktor, no one knew I was here!” The smiled quickly dropped from his face as he watched the angrier turn to panic on his idols face. He frowned apologetically while staring at Yuuri.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know!” He said softly while turning his gaze to his feet. He wasn’t sure what else he could say or do, he hadn’t meant to upset Yuuri. He had just wanted to take the chance to rub it into Christophe Giacometti, probably his best friend ever, that he was not only training with probably the best ever male skater, but also getting to see said person skate.

Viktor glanced up as he heard Yuuri let out a shaky breath.

“Okay. Do not say anything, Viktor. Nothing at all. Especially mentioning coaching. Do you understand?” Yuuri asked him while looking him straight in the eye. He blinked but nodded his head slowly, noticing for the first time how shaken Yuuri looked at the sudden development.

“Don’t say anything, gotcha!” He said before smiling brightly at the dark-haired man, which seemed to relieve the man.

“Good. Now, let’s finish our jog.” He nodded his head in agreement while waiting for Yuuri to catch up before keeping step with him.

The minute they were spotted it was like meat was thrown to a pack of hungry dogs. They were quickly surrounded and hundreds of questions were fired at them. He couldn’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by it all.

“Are you coaching Viktor Nikiforov, Mr Katsuki?”

“What happened at last year’s Grand Prix, Viktor?”

“Is it true you can land a quad axel, Mr Katsuki?”

“When will you be returning to the ring, Mr Katsuki?”

“Viktor, is it true you and Christophe Giacometti are lovers?”

He jumped slightly as a hand landed on his shoulders and started pushing him through the crowd, until they were in the Ice Castle.

“Yuuri! Viktor! Are you two alright?” He heard Mrs Yuuko ask as she rushed towards them.

“Think so.” Yuuri replied for them both. He glanced towards Yuuri, noticing that despite the calm expression on his face that his hands were trembling, they had been trembling the whole time they were making their way through the paparazzi now that he thought about it. “Are you okay, Viktor?” He blinked as he noticed that both the adults’ attention was turned on him. He sent them both a bright smile.

“Yep!” He said brightly, noticing how the other man’s shoulder seemed to relax at his response.

“Okay, good.” Mrs Yuuko said cheerfully, “Oh, before I forget, the rink is all yours today. The children’s classes were cancelled today due to the paparazzi storm.” He couldn’t help but cheer at the news while hurrying towards one of the chairs to put his skaters, noticing the way that Yuuri started to apologise for the sudden issue as he did so.

More time training with Yuuri, meant more of a chance to convince the man to be his coach after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to add that in this story Chris is 17, so his age is more relatable to Viktor's.


	7. Chapter 7

“Hey Yuuri.” Said male glanced up at the call of his name and hummed in response as he fixed the laces of his skates. “Who do you classify as your rival-“ The words were barely out of the teens mouth when the doors where slammed open.

“YUURI KATSUKI!” He sighed to himself before turning towards the person who has just barged into the rink.

“Yuri Plisetsky, what do I owe the pleasure?” He asked with a smile towards his long-time rival and, to some degree, friend.

“Cut the crap! What the fuck is this about you taking a break?” The blonde demanded while marching towards him.

“Hi Kotenok!” Viktor shouted from behind him, using some word in Russian that he didn’t know, but by the look at appeared on Yuri’s face, he didn’t like it.

“What the fuck are you doing here, shithead?” Yuri snapped at the boy, “Why aren’t you in Russia? You have a lot of training to make up for after your pathetic performance at the Grand Prix.” Yuuri frowned and moved in front of the Russian teen protectively.

“Calm down, Yurio.” He said, earning a growl of annoyance at the nickname he had used.

“Yurio?” He heard Viktor questioned from behind him. He chuckled nervously while turning to look at the teen.

“Yuri comes to visit me between seasons sometimes. It gets a bit hard for everyone with two Yuri’s around, so, Mari declared Yuri, Yurio, and me, Yuuri.” He explained while pushing some hair out of his face.

“Now cut the crap, Katsudon, you better march your ass outside and tell those assholes that you won’t be taking any sort of break! How the hell am I meant to beat your ass if you aren’t there?” Yuri demanded while pointing a finger towards the exit that lead towards the front doors where the paparazzi was still stalking.

“Sorry, Yurio. But I can’t do that. I… I need a break.” He explained while skating towards the closest edge to the blonde.

“Why?” The blonde demanded with a growl while moving towards him.

“Because he’s going to coach me.” Viktor’s shouted while skating towards the pair, earning the teen a loud sigh from himself.

“Huh?” Was the response he got from the blonde, “Katsudon, coach someone?” Was all Yuri was able to say before bursting into fit of laughter.

“What? You jealous, Kotenok?” Viktor asked with a smirk, cutting Yuri’s laughter off pretty quickly. Yuuri didn’t know what to do as the two Russian’s eye each other off. Viktor, the 18-year-old Russian who had only made it into the Grand Prix by a slither, only to rank last, was standing up against Yuri, the 21-year-old who was well known for being Russia’s highest-ranking skater. Wherever Yuuri got gold, Yuri was right there at his heels, picking up silvers by the tiniest margin.

If he was honest, if it wasn’t for Yuri, he might have quit a little earlier. But after finally smashing two world records at the last Grand Prix and scoring almost 20 points above his rival, he decided he didn’t want to skate anymore.

“This brat is kidding, right, Katsudon?” Yuri questioned with a raised eyebrow, finally broking eye contact with the teen, which the silver headed Russian clearly counted as a win in his books.

“Yes, I mean, no. I’m thinking about it.” He admitted honestly while rubbing the back of his head with a nervous laugh, he pushed himself backwards on the ice, barely getting out of reach of Yuri as the blonde lunged towards him.

“WHAT THE FUCK, KATSUDON?!” Yuri sounded while raising his fist towards him. He laughed nervously while staying a few meters away from the angry Russian.

“We should have a competition.” Viktor finally spoke up, causing the two senior skaters to glance towards him.

“Huh?” The pair repeated in confusion.

“A skating competition! If I win, Yuuri becomes my coach!” Viktor declared with a smirk.

“Do you even know who you are talking to, brat?” Yuri growled, “What do I get if I win?” He asked, clearly interested despite his annoyance at the teen.

“What do you want? Yuuri to become your coach?” His eyes widen as the two Russian’s turned towards him. The silvery headed teen with a smirk, while the blonde headed male eyed him in a calculated manner.

“If I win, Katsudon, I want you to choreograph both a short and free program for me. Two programs that will let me smash your world records out of the water.” He stood there in shock. I mean, sure, choreograph two routines for Yuri made a lot more sense than coaching him, but he still wasn’t expecting it.

“What a lovely idea! We can make it a public event! Call it the ‘Onsen on Ice’.” The trio turned to the entryway to see Yuuko’s triple girls, Axel, Lutz and Loop, standing there with bright, evil grins. Yuuri and Yuri shared a look, having once competed in an ‘Onsen on Ice’ a couple of years back when he won his first Grand Prix but a mere 0.38. Yuri had declared the results rigged and demanded a rematch. The rematch, sadly, didn’t go in Yuri’s favour and had only seemed to nail in the fact that Yuuri was the better skater.

“What a lovely idea!” Viktor said with a bright smile, pushing backwards on the ice and spinning around. He was unable to stop himself from watching the teen, as his hair span around with him perfectly. “One week from now. And Yuuri can choreography a routine for us both.” The two Russian’s had another small stare off before both of them turned towards Yuuri.

“Um… Okay?” He replied hesitantly, earning himself to smirks in response.

“Then let the competition begin.” Axel, Lutz and Loop shouted before bolting out of the room, clearly to start setting everything up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t speak Russian but from my research ‘Kotenok’ means kitten.


	8. Chapter 8

Yuuri held back a sigh as he placed a bowl of katsudon in front of Yuri and Viktor as the pair bickered. The bickering had started the minute he had agreed to this competition. It had all started with Viktor demanding that he should learn his routine first, which had resulted in Yuri snapping back that as the senior skater of the pair that he should be. And the bickering had begun there and hadn’t stopped. Somewhere along the lines, the pair had gone from bickering in English to their own language, one in which he had no hope of keeping up in.

Deciding it was probably best to leave the pair, he sat down at his reserved seat between the pair and mumbled a small ‘itadakimasu’ before picking up his chopsticks. The table seemed to quiet down suddenly as the two Russian’s realised that it was time to eat and quickly dived into their bowls of katsudon.

“Hey, Katsudon, where’s your bowl?” Yuri questioned with a raised eyebrow when the blonde paused to take a sip of tea. He froze before giving the blonde a small smile as he glanced down at his rice bowl and vegetable curry. “Really? Are you serious watching your weight while on break?” The blonde scoff in disbelieve before shrugging and digging back into his dinner.

With the pair quieting down for the moment, it allowed Yuuri to think about what routines he could possible teach them.

Yuri was a much easier case to figure out than Viktor. He knew the blonde’s style and abilities. The older Russian would probably need a little bit of convincing to do the routine he had in mind; but he was sure that if anyone could pull off this routine it would be Yuri.

Viktor on the other hand, he turned his gaze onto the Russian teen who was currently attempt to sneak some of his dinner to Makkachin, and not at all being subtle about it. The teen was a little bit harder to read. Sure, with a bit more practice, the teen would be one hell of a jumper. Maybe… maybe the teen would be able to pull of that particular routine. He had created the routine to have a number of quads, but he supposed it would still have a similar affect if they were triples. And they could slowly throw some quads in when Viktor started to improve.

He gave a small nod to the decision and made a mental note to bring his routine notebook to the rink tomorrow, as well as to make sure he had the music on his phone.

“Yuuri, you should eat a bit more.” He blinked and glanced towards Viktor who was eyeing his barely touched food in front of him with a worried look. The silver headed man quickly scooped up a piece of carrot with his chopsticks and held it out for him.

“Come on, eat.” He gave a small smile before accepting the piece of carrot, somewhat embarrassingly before waving the teen off.

“Yes, yes.” He said before returning to his food, which clearly pleased the Russian teen for some reason. With at least something planned out for tomorrow, he let himself at least try and enjoy the evening with two Russian’s who refused to leave a moment dull.

***

“So, Yuuri, you are teaching me my routine first, right?” Viktor said as the trio stood on the ice. Today, the silvery-headed teen seemed to have decided to change his hairstyle and had put his hair into an elegant braid that hung over his shoulder. Yuri himself had decided that he was a bit tired of continuously pushing his hair back and had slipped on a hairband to hold it back and out of his eyes, while Yuri was going for his normal training ponytail.

“Um, no.” He said as he grabbed the remote to the speakers.

“What! No!” Viktor whined with a pout as Yuri sent a smirk this way.

“Yurio,” He said, quickly earning the older Russian’s attention. “Do you remember my short program from last season?” He asked, and gave a small smile at the nod he received. “Did you know that the music I used has two different arrangements, with two different themes?” He stated while staring at his long-time rival. The blonde simply raised an eyebrow, clearly wanted him to get to the point.

“I made up two routine, one for each arrangement, but decided, in the end, to go with the Eros version because it was more me, I suppose you could say.” He said with a small shrug.

“And you think this other arrangement, is me?” Yuri asked and he gave a small smile while pressing play on his music. He didn’t break eye contact as the music washed over the three and Yuri clearly became annoyed.

“What the fuck is this girly crap?” The blonde snapped at him.

“Innocent.” Viktor called out, getting a look of confusion from his former Russian mentor.

“Very good, Viktor.” He praised the teen with a smile, “Eros is a fast-paced song meant to represent sexual passion and desire. This version is called ‘In Regards to Love: Agape’, which as Viktor pointed out is the much more innocent version of the two. Agape represents a different kind of long, unconditional love.”

“And why the fuck does ‘unconditional love’ make you think of me?” Yuri spat in annoyance.

“Because there aren’t many skaters that can pull off the innocent act the way you can.” He said while pausing the music and turning to Victor, who clearly seemed to brightened up when his attention was turned on the teen. He hit play and watched the teen as he absorbed the music, clearly interested in where he was going.

“I created this routine last season in an attempt to capture a particular feeling. I could never exactly put it into worlds, but someone closed to me said that it reminded them of a young, naïve man trying to pull the heartstrings of a world far too corrupt for them. This song is called 'Aria: Stay Close to Me'.” He said giving the teen a smile before pausing the music.

“Here I was thinking you’d give us something a bit more exciting, Katsudon.” Yuri said with an annoyed look. He chuckled and gave the blonde a smile.

“You haven’t even seen the routine yet, Yurio. Both routines, if done perfectly, could easily outscore my current world record.” That statement along seemed to capture both male’s attention causing him to smile softly while pulling off his glasses.

“Would you like to see them?” He asked with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

Yuuri stood in the middle of the rink, rolling his head before turning to the two Russian’s who had stepped off the ice to give him space to show them the routine.

“Viktor, music please.” He said with a nod. He took a deep breath as ‘In Regards to Love: Agape’ began as well as the performance.

If he were honest, he would have felt more comfortable doing Agape rather than Eros. But Celestino had been against it. Telling him that despite how beautiful the Agape version was, it wasn’t as eye-catching as his Eros version at least when he performed it. Celestino had been the one that mentioned that this arrangement would suit a skater like Yuri more. Despite his age, Yuri still kept the flexibility he had possessed when he won his first (and only) Grand Prix at the rip age of 15.

Unconditional love was the only love that Yuuri completely understood if he was honest. The unconditional love of his parents, friends and his dearest Vicchan.

He was curious to see how the Ice Tiger of Russia would express his unconditional love. Before he knew it, the short demonstration was over and he turned to face the pair.

“Kind of like that. What do you think?” He asked and got a nod from the blonde.

“Yeah, I pretty much got it.” Yuri nodded his head, “The footwork is as impressive as ever, Katsudon.” He smiled brightly at the compliment before repositioning himself.

“Thank you. Now, Viktor, pay close attention.” He said while nodding his head for the next song to start.

‘Aria: Stay close to me’ had been a random idea. Something to relieve the stress that had been building up as the Grand Prix and World Championships drew neared. Phichit and himself would often sneak off to the rink late at night and skate with no pressure from the outside world. Those late nights were where a lot of his routines came from and Phichit was normally the first one to see them and help him refine it enough to present it to his coach.

A routine on how naïve he was for attempting to sway the world with an emotion he had never quite experienced. He had always been told he was more of the princely type than anything else, and after his Eros performance, everyone’s opinion on him changed. He came to a haul, having finished the routine and blinked at the applause he reserved. He gave a small smile as he skated towards the Russian pair.

“How was that?” He asked as Viktor quickly joined him in the rink.

“Incredible! It was like watching a prince.” Viktor said with a bright smile. He chuckled and shook his head before giving the teen a small push back towards the edge of the rink.

“I’ll teach Yurio his routine first.” He said, earning himself a gasp and a groan from the teen.

“Why not me?” The teen demanded with a pout.

“Because I’ll get it quicker than you. Duh.” Yuri said with a roll of his eyes as he popped onto the ice.

“Exactly! So, as soon as Yurio has got his, we will start working on yours.” He promised while giving the teen another push. He smiled softly at the groan he reserved before the teen finally accepted that Yuri would be taught first. He turned to the blonde Russian with a smile.

“Now, let’s begin, shall we?” He said as Yuri, earning himself a nod and an eye roll.

*** 

“Um, Yuuri.” He glanced down at Viktor who was hunched over, using his knees for support as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yes?” He questioned the teen curiously. As he had expected, Yuri had mastered most of the routine in less than an hour. Viktor on the other hand was on his third hour and still hadn’t completely gasped the step sequences after the second jump.

“There is a difference between the two routines you showed Kotenok and me.” He frowned slightly, still having no idea what Kotenok meant.

“What is Kotenok?” He questioned and earned a snicker from the silvery-headed teen.

“Kotenok means kitten.” Viktor explained while standing up straight again and getting into the starting position, “It is the nickname that everyone back in Saint Petersburg call Yuri.” He nodded his head in understanding while standing off to the side, watching the teen as he began to skate.

“Watch your hip movements.” He called out as the teen did his first circular rotation. “Use your hands to express yourself, Viktor.” He said before sighing, the teen was getting there but as he moved into position for his first jump, he knew what the teen was planning. “No.” He shouted, causing the teen to pause and not go through with his jump. “Viktor, no quads.” He said while crossing his arms across his chest. He sighed in annoyance while rubbing his forehead. He earned a grunt of annoyance from the teen.

“I can do quads fine.” The teen huffed, clearly unimpressed with his decision.

“You were right before when you said there was a difference between the two routines. Yurio’s routine is a short program. While I organically made yours to be a free skate.” He explained with a sigh as he moved towards the teen, hoping to change the subject off quads.

“Can you show me the free version? The complete free version?” He paused and glanced towards the Russian before smiling.

“Go start the music.” He said, earning an excited gasp from the teen as he sped over to the speakers to start the music. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and waited for the music before he began the routine. He hadn’t exactly planned on showing Viktor the whole version. The teen was nowhere near ready for the whole routine, but he somehow couldn’t help but show the teen. He suddenly realised that he almost always gave into the teen when Viktor asked him for something.

He wasn’t sure why he kept giving into the teen. Was it because he was weak? Or because the teens charm was irresistible? Either way, he wasn’t exactly sure if he wanted whatever was happening to stop.


	10. Chapter 10

He let out a sigh as he popped down onto his bed after a long soak in the hot springs. After what seemed like forever, Viktor seemed to have gasped the routine. Though, now the only thing he had to worry about was the teen not overdoing himself and trying to throw some quads in there.

Yuri, on the other hand, though he had the routine figured out, he didn’t have the feeling right.

But it was still only the first day; they both had plenty of time to get the routine and feeling perfect. He was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts but a knock at his door, raising an eyebrow he stood up to see what someone would want at this time of night.

“Yuuri,” He heard Viktor whine on the other side of the door, “Lets sleep together.”

“Huh?” He questioned while opening the door with a worried look. Viktor was standing there in one of the Inn’s yukata, Makkachin sitting at the teen’s heels. It was only then that he noticed that the teen was looking at the ground with a small pout.

“Kotenok kicked me out of my room and claimed my bed. I can sleep with you, right?” He opened his mouth to tell the teen that he could easily find another room for him if he wanted, only to pause at the hopeful look he was getting.

“Sure.” He mumbled hesitantly, realising that this was another example of being unable to say no to the teen. Before he could correct himself, Viktor had pushed passed him and made himself comfortable on the bed with Makkachin a step behind his master. He let out a small sigh, already regretting his decision.

“I’ll go get a futon.” He said before taking a step out of the room.

“What? Why?” Viktor shouted out after him, though made no move to getting off the bed. “Can’t we just share?”

“No, the bed is too small for the both of us. I’ll go grab a futon to sleep on. You can have the bed.” He said with a small smile before he left the room to collect a futon to use. When he returned to his room, Viktor had settled under the cover, though still looked a little upset about the sleeping arrangements.

“I can sleep on the futon, you know. It is your bed.” The teen pointed out as he set up the futon. He waved a hand at the teen as he got everything settled.

“No, no. As the guest, please have the bed.” He insisted, before he could climb into the futon, he felt the back of his shirt being grabbed.

“You sure you don’t want to share, Yuuri?” Viktor asked one last time, this time with a charming smile and a wink, which quickly turned his face a nice and bright shade of red.

“N-no, Viktor, it’s fine.” He ensured the boy while quickly breaking out of the boys hold. “Time for bed now, goodnight.” He said, climbing into the futon and turning his back to the teen. The room leaped into silence for a moment before he heard the teen let out a loud sigh before settling under the covers of the bed.

That boy was going to give him a heart attack one of these days with all the flirting he seemed to enjoy doing with him. He slipped his glasses off and set them beside the futon before letting himself relax and slowly fall asleep.

***

He woke to a snickering sound and the sound of a picture being taken. He groaned in response and buried his head deeper into his pillow. He paused suddenly, confused as to why his pillow suddenly felt so silky. He didn’t have any silk pillows, nor did he notice any bedding changes when he retired to his room last night. He slowly opened his eyes and was meet with the colour silver. He stared confused for a moment before his brain finally caught up. His eyes widen and he pulled back, only for the pair of arms wrapped around his chest to pull him back.

He was in his bed, with Viktor, cuddling the boy.

His head snapped towards the snickering sound to see Yuri grinning evilly at him with a phone in his hand.

“What do you say, Katsudon? Post that adorable picture of you two all cuddled up together on instagram.” He let out a squeak and tried again to pull away from the teen, only to freeze in a panic as the teen let out a small moan of disagreement. Yuri started snickering again before rolling his eyes and leaving the room, but not before commenting once more on his sleeping arrangements.

“I didn’t know you were into younger people, Katsudon.” He blushed bright red as he was left alone once again with Viktor.

He stared down at the sleeping teen, noticing just how peaceful he looked when he was asleep. He hesitantly raised a hand before gently brushing a few strands of his silky silvery hair out of the boy’s face, being unable to keep the smile off his face as he did so.

He suddenly froze in a panic, thinking maybe he had woken the teen up when the Russian teen only buried further into his chest.

He smiled ever so softly at the teen before trying to remember how he had ended up in the bed, rather than in the futon. He does remember being woken up at some point of the night but the Russian, but he honestly couldn’t remember why or what exactly happened. Deciding it was probably easier to not question how or why, and focus more on how he was going to get out of this situation without waking the teen.

With some careful manoeuvring, he was able to slide out of the bed without waking the teen. He let out a sigh as he finally stood up straight and went and retrieved his glasses from the ground before turning back to the teen. Within the 30 seconds of him being gone, his presences in the teen’s arms had been immediately been replaced by Makkachin, who happily soaking up his owner’s sleepy attention. He smiled at the scene before giving the dog a small pat and quietly retreating from the room.

He sat down across from Yuri for breakfast and tried to ignore the evil grin that still hadn’t left the blondes face.

“Falling for Russian’s teenage heartthrob, Katsudon?” Yuri asked as Mari served them both up breakfast.

“W-what? N-no?” He started out while picking up his chopsticks and started to busy himself by eating, in an attempt to end the conversation. It wasn’t until Viktor finally decided to join the senior pair at the skating rink a couple of hours later, did he realise that he hadn’t taken his medication this morning.


	11. Chapter 11

Practice was not going well.

The moment Viktor had stumbled into the skating rink, hours after the senior pair had arrived, Yuri had taken it upon himself to scold the boy.

Which had resulted in his current issue, no matter what he did, he could barely hold either of the Russian’s attention for more than half a minute. The pair seemed to be paying more attention to the other Russian than him. Which wouldn’t have been a problem, if he wasn’t 100 percent sure that the pair where cursing each other out in their native tongue.

He took a deep breath as the pair got into another glare-off before clapping his hands together, drawing both males attention to himself.

“Are you two done yet?” He questioned with a sigh.

“Shut your trap, Katsudon. This is your fault. Letting this shithead walk all over you.” Yuri snapped back. “How the hell do you expect to be his coach when you won’t even yell at the boy for being late?”

“We didn’t set a time for practice! I wasn’t late!” Viktor snapped back while flipping his long hair, which the teen had decided to leave lose today, over his shoulder. “And who cares how Yuuri coaches me. It’s about the end results, nothing else, right?”

“Ha,” Yuri snorted, “Aren’t you funny, thinking that Katsudon will coach?” He frowned slightly, unsure what the blonde meant by that.

“What was that?” Viktor snapped while skating towards the older skater. He frowned and shifted to move in-between the Russian pair, only to freeze at the smirk Yuri sent the teen.

“You are just like Katsudon. Pathetic and weak. You really think that this shithead is able to coach anyone? He can barely keep himself in first place half the time. It’s just pure luck that he keeps winning. Probably bribes the judges or some shit.” He felt his blood run cold at Yuri’s comments, unable to believe what he had just heard.

“I mean, what type of dipshit, takes a break at the peak of his career? He can’t pretend he is too old for skating because he is in his prime. I think he just got afraid of the competition. Instead of being the bigger man, he is ‘taking a break’ just so he doesn’t get embarrassed when he finally loses. He wants to sit on his high horse forever.”

He didn’t remember what happened next very well. He remembers exiting the ice rink, and the doors slamming behind him. And then the next thing he remembers is Yuuko’s gentle voice soothing him. Telling him that everything is okay, that he needs to loosen the grip on his arms before he hurts himself, and that he needs to slow his breathing. But no matter what Yuuko says, he can’t seem to follow her instructions. 

***

Yuri smirks to himself as he watches Yuuri slink out of the room in defeat.

He turned to Viktor, to gloat some more when the teen quickly speed across the ice and hurried after the Japanese man. He rolled his eyes as he watched the teen struggle to put his blade protectors on. He suddenly blinked, noticing that Yuuri hadn’t paused to put his own blade protectors on when he stormed out. He shrugged, let the idiot ruin his skates, it didn’t affect him.

“GET OUT!” His head snapped to the loud shout that had come from the main entry before Viktor came stumbling out backwards. He frowned because that hadn’t been a male’s voice shouting before, that had been Yuuko’s voice.

“Brat, go back to practice.” He called out to the silver haired teen while skating to the side and slipping his own blade protectors on.

“What gives you the idea that I would listen to you after what you just said about Yuri?” The teen snapped, staring at him with a furious look on his face. He rolled his eyes while grabbing the teen and pushing him towards the rink.

“Just practice. I’ll sort this shit out. I caused it anyway.” He grumbled in annoyance before making his way towards the entry.

He walked through the doors, expecting a shout or something like Viktor had received but he found the room vacant of anyone. He frowned and glanced around, before moving towards the skate-hiring counter. He paused and glanced behind the counter when he heard Yuuko’s voice, even with how muffled it was, he could tell that Yuuko was in some sort of distress. He hurried around the counter and towards Yuuko’s office. He slammed open the door, and he wasn’t sure how to describe what he saw.

“Yurio. Help me take his skates off.” Yuuko snapped with a calm expression on her face, despite the panic evident in her voice. He stood still for only a moment before jumping into action. Quickly and safely removing Yuuri’s skate as the man sat, curled up in the corner of Yuuko’s office. Yuuri’s breaths were coming out so fast he was surprised that the Japanese man was even conscious.

“It’s okay, Yuuri. Come on, you need to calm down. Breath with me. One,” Yuuko paused for only a second, “Two. One.” She repeated herself over and over as he unlaced and removed Yuuri’s skates, so he wouldn’t hurt himself or either of them.

“Yuuri, Yuuri. Let go of your arms. You are going to leave bruises.” His head snapped towards Yuuri hands, which had a white-knuckle grip on his own biceps. He frowned before reaching forward and gently prying the dark-haired man’s fingers away so they couldn’t case any damage.

“Come on, Yuuri,” He heard himself mumble softly, “This is no time to freak out.”

“Keep talking.” He glanced towards Yuuko, who hadn’t stopped looking at Yuuri the whole time he was here.

“Huh?” He questioned while holding Yuuri’s hands gently but firmly.

“Don’t stop talking to him.” Yuuko prompted him; he raised an eyebrow before glancing towards his long-time rival, who was sitting in the corner of the room having some form of a panic attack.

“You know, if I had to choose, I think I would have preferred to do your Eros routine than this Agape crap. But I suppose you are right, it is sort of me.” He mumbled while glancing towards the side.

“Yes, yes. That’s it, Yuuri. Long, deep breathes.” Yuuko mumbled beside him. He glanced towards her for a split second before turning his gaze on his long-time rival. He wondered how many times she had had to do this. Clearly a lot with how calm she was about the whole situation. He went back to mumbling nonsense until Yuuri went slick. He glanced up to see the other man asleep.

“Thank you,” He glanced towards Yuuko as she slowly leant against his side with sigh.

“He hasn’t had one that bad in front of me in years.” He heard he sigh before he finally let go of Yuuri’s hands and let them rest on the man’s knees.

“I’ll go call Mari to come get him. Do you think you could keep Viktor busy? I’m sure Yuuri would hate himself if Viktor had to see him like this.” She mumbled before moving to get up.

“What the hell was that?” He asked while grabbing her arm. She blinked as she glanced down at him.

“A panic attack?” She answered questionable, “He has them all the time. I thought you knew…” She trailed off before her eyes widened.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry! I thought you knew!” She gasped in shock.

“Knew what?” He demanded.

“About Yuuri’s anxiety.” He froze at that and stared at her in confusion before he glanced back down at the sleeping man. He sighed while standing up and turning his back on the pair.

“I’ll keep the brat amused. I can’t promise for long.” He said while exiting the room.

“Thank you, Yurio.” He waved Yuuko off over his shoulder before entering the skating room again. He glanced towards Viktor to see the teen lazily skating around in circles.

“Yo, shithead! What the hell are you doing? I thought I told you to practice!” He yelled while moving to get back on the ice.

He still couldn’t get Yuuri’s face out of his head. Damn, that meant he would have to do some serious apologising the next chance he got.

To believe that the stupid Katsudon was able to hide something like that from the world.


	12. Chapter 12

Viktor was confused, annoyed and worried, all at once.

Yuuri had just stormed out after Yuri had made some harsh comments.

He had stood froze for only a moment. He had honestly expected Yuuri to nervously laugh off the comments and asked if they could get back to practice. Instead, the black-haired man had just left. No comment, no nervous laugh, nothing.

As soon as Yuuri was out of sight, he bolted after him. He needed to make sure he was okay. Despite how high and mighty everyone thought Yuuri was, he wasn’t. He was anything but high and mighty.

He stumbled through the doors after the Japanese man, only to be met with a furious looking Yuuko.

“GET OUT!” He yelped and stumbled backwards, back through the doors he had just come through. He stood in shock, not expecting Yuuko or her reaction. He stood in front of the doors dumbfounded for a moment, wondering what he should do.

He gasped in surprise as he was grabbed from behind and pushed towards the rink again. He turned to snap at the only possible person it could be.

“Just practice. I’ll sort this shit out. I caused it anyway.” He frowned as he watched Yuri walk passed him and through the doors that lead to the main entryway. He stood there a moment, wondering if he should follow before deciding, that he should practice. He had turned up late, and hadn’t really practice since arriving.

Viktor let out a sigh as he took his blade protectors off and slipped back onto the ice. He moved to the centre of the rink and took a deep breath.

He was a prince, he reminded himself. A prince expressing how he felt. He closed his eyes as he let himself begin the routine Yuuri had picked for him. He barely remembered preparing for the first jump till he was in the air. A quadruple Lutz.

He smiled as he landed it smoothly, trying not to think about how annoyed Yuuri would be if he saw him do it. He continued the routine, spinning and using his arms to express what he felt as he moved towards the second jump, he knew which jump he was going to do right away. It was the favourite jump after all; he threw himself into the air and easily landed the quadruple flip.

He took a deep breath, he had half expected some sort of pain upon the landing but there was nothing. He closed his eyes as he let himself get absorbed in the feeling of the routine.

Despite it only being one day since Yuuri had showed it to him, he felt like he had gotten it already. He remembers Yuuri’s face when he performed it. It had held such compassion; it had been hard to believe that the famous skater was teaching him, Viktor Nikiforov, the free skate he had made for his next season.

Yuuri could have won another Grand Prix with this routine, but instead he was giving it to him.

He opened his eyes as he began his flying sit spin, and raised an arm into the air like Yuuri had done the day before.

The Japanese man truly did have a way with step sequences and spins; it was no wonder he almost always scored out with his presentation score.

He hummed along softly with the song in his head as he jumped into the air and preformed a perfect quadruple Salchow. He landed it perfectly, letting out a small giggle of relief as he continued the routine.

He closed his eyes as he moved into the last jump. He could remember Yuuri’s perfect quadruple toe loop followed by a triple toe loop. He pushed himself up into the air, body in rotation.

And then he hit the ground hard, having failed the landing and falling onto his butt with a groan. He dropped completely onto the ice before opening his eyes and stared up at the roof of the ice rink, letting out a loud sigh as he did so.

He could do a quadruple toe loop, had done them plenty of times. He probably had been moving too slow. Or maybe his rotation was off. Either way, it had almost been a perfect routine.

If he had just somehow managed to stay on his feet and finish the combination spin at the end, it would have gotten a high ranking for sure. He had landed three quads after all. He let out a sigh while dragging himself up off the ice before starting to skate casually circles around the rink for a couple of minutes.

“Yo, shithead! What the hell are you doing? I thought I told you to practice!” He jumped in surprise at the yell and almost stumbled in his step. He span around to glare at Yuri, only to notice the rather blank expression on the older man’s face. He opened his mouth to question the blonde before deciding against it.

“Kotenok, teach me how to land a quadruple Salchow.” Despite having landed one not minutes ago, his luck with them in competitions wasn’t the best. He got a raised eyebrow in response before the blonde nodded.

“Watch closely.” He nodded his head, though he was a bit curious about what had happened between the two Yuri’s. Because his fellow Russian didn’t even snap at him for calling him Kotenok, so something definitely happened.


	13. Chapter 13

Viktor was worried to say the least, Yuuri hadn’t returned to the rink at all that day.

He had hoped that the dark-haired man would come back at some point, because he wanted to make sure he was doing the routine right. He had only seen the end of the routine a couple of times after all, but Yuri seemed pretty okay with what he had been doing. Though the blonde had kept harping on at him about how his performance lacked feelings.

When it was finally time to come home, he couldn’t help the buzz of nervous energy that ran through him.

What if Yuuri took Yuri’s words to heart and decided he didn’t want to coach him?

What if he was sick of his attitude?

Did he maybe overstep the other man’s bounties last night by sleeping in his room?

So many ideas were floating around his head; he barely noticed how fast he was moving until he heard his name being shouted. He came to a sudden halt and turned around to see Yuri jogging after him, panting hard.

“Slow your damn horses, shithead.” The blonde said between pants before starting to jog again. He decided to run beside the other Russian for the rest of the way home, though he still couldn’t shake the worry he felt. When they finally got to the inn, he burst through the main door and shouted at a cheerful ‘good afternoon’. Despite getting a response back from Hiroko, he felt a little disappointed that it hadn’t been Yuuri greeting them. He gave the older Katsuki woman a bright smile before telling her he was going to take a long soak in the hot spring.

Despite what he told the older woman, he had no plan on soaking in the hot spring, at least yet. He wanted to check on Yuuri first. He needed to make sure that the Japanese man hadn’t taken any of Yuri’s ridiculous comments to heart. He just entered the hallway that leads to Yuuri’s bedroom room when he was grabbed by the back of the shirt.

“Not so fast kid.” He glanced up to see Mari looking down at him. “Yuuri’s taking a nap with your pooch.”

“Really? Then I should join them.” He said brightly while attempting to pull out of the older Katsuki’s grasp.

“I think not, brat.” Mari said with a snort.

“But Makkachin is there.” He whined while giving the dual-coloured haired woman a pout.

“And the pooch can share one nap with someone else. Go soak in the tub for a while or something. Let Yuuri get some sleep.” He continued to pout as he was pushed in the opposite direction of Yuuri’s room. “If he’s not up by dinner, you can wake him up.” He paused for a moment before nodding in defeat. They still had a couple of hours before dinner, but he supposed he could use that soak in the tub.

After his little crash, his knee had started aching a little. He really needed to start stretching it out properly, especially before practice. But if he was honest, he hadn’t really done any stretches this morning. He had been too overcome with the fact that he had woken up in Yuuri’s bed, wrapped up in sheets that smelt just like the older man.

He made his way to the hot spring. After carefully tying his hair back and undressing, he slipped into the hot, steaming water and let out a happy sigh. The sun had painted the sky a pretty orangey, purple colour as it slowly disappeared, making the hot spring seem even beautiful than it already was. He glanced around, and upon noting that he was alone, drag his butt out of the water to retrieve his phone. Yuuri had scolded him a few times now for attempting to take a picture of the hot spring, but with no one here to stop him, he happily snapped a picture of himself in the beautiful spring before posting it online with the comment ‘A perfect way to finish off the day’ with a number of love hearts and happy faces. Almost immediately, he got a notification saying that Chris had retweeted it and commented. He giggled to himself as he looked at what Chris’s comment.

‘Where was my invitation?’ With a few sad faces and heartbroken heart.

He smiled but chose not to comment on his best friend’s response. He’ll give Chris all the gossip when Yuuri finally agreed to be his coach.

*** 

After a little while in the spring, Viktor dragged himself out and got dressed before popping into the main room. Yuri was sitting around drinking some tea while watching something on the televisions (Though he was not convinced that the man was actually watching it because the show was Japanese and he was pretty sure that Yuri did not speak Japanese). With nothing else to really do, he had moved to sit down across from Yuri, only to be stopped by Mari.

“Can you go wake, Yuuri?” She asked while balancing a tray of sake bottles in one hand. “If he sleeps any longer he won’t be able to sleep tonight.” His eyes widen in delight and his nodded his head.

“Sure thing, Mari-chan!” He said bright, despite the eye roll he had gotten in response. Yuuko had explained on his second day here that (most) girls in Japan liked when boys added ‘-chan’ at the end of their name. So, he had started to do that for both Mari and Yuuko. He hurried through the house and towards Yuuri’s room.

He paused in front of Yuuri’s door and knocked on it gently while slowly pushing it open, “Yuuri?” He called out softly while poking his head into the room. He paused at the sight he found himself looking at.

Yuuri Katsuki, the legendary skater, was fast asleep with his faced buried into the fur of Makkachin’s neck. The brown poodle seemed to have wiggled his way into the man’s grasp, and was happily resting with his nose resting on the man’s neck in return. He smiled while slowly entering the man’s room. He paused half way into the room as he finally took notice of the man’s room. Posters hung on almost every surface of the room. Some of places, others of animals, there was even a person or two here and there.

There was an adorable photo of a gorgeous brown toy poodle with a blue bow tied around his neck, sitting in a box, hanging right above the man’s desk. He also noted that there was a Grand Prix poster half hidden behind a picture of some sort of temple. It was from last season when he had ranked last. Despite the memories, he couldn’t help but smile at how pretty the poster was. All six of the skaters that had made it through tot eh Grand Prix were on the poster, looking both gorgeous and threatening all at once.

He shook his head and turned back towards Yuuri, he was here on a mission to wake the man up after all. Before he could even take a step close, Makkachin let out a loud whine before starting to wiggle in Yuuri’s arms. It seemed that he had finally been spotted. He attempted to hush the dog, only to hear a groan come from Yuuri as the man let go of Makkachin before rolling onto his back. The released poodle bounced over to him, happily jumping up and giving him a few big kisses that forced a giggle out of him. By the time he was able to push the dog off, Yuuri had sat up and was staring at him sluggishly.

“What time is it?” Yuuri mumbled while reaching over to feel around for his glasses on his side table, or at least that what it looked like.

“Dinner time, Mari-chan sent me to come get you.” He said bright while wondering over to the bed and popping down on the opposite end from his idol. Yuuri, having found his glasses, slipped them on and stared at him for a minute.

“Please don’t take anything that stupid Kotenok says to heart. I don’t believe any of it.” He declared with a serious look. He earned a blink in response before a smile found its way to the other man’s face.

“Thank you.” Yuuri said softly, which made him smile brightly at the man before grabbing his hand and pulling him up with him.

“Come on, it’s dinner time. Katsudon is waiting.” He sang while leading Yuuri out of the room.

“No katsudon for you.” Yuuri stated seriously, causing him to gasp.

“B-b-but-“ He started out, trying to process what Yuuri had just said.

“No ‘buts’. No katsudon.” He pouted at his idol as the older man pushed in front and started tugging him along by the hand towards to the main room.

“About time you two got here.” Yuri shouted out to them as they entered the room. Before he could even mumble anything back. Yuuri was shouting out to his parents that he wasn’t allowed any katsudon.

“Noooooo.” He whined in defeat, earning himself a number of chuckles as he was seated across from Yuri. Yuuri patted him softly on the head as he sat down to join them. Despite everything that had happened at the rink today, everyone was acting like nothing happened. Yuri was still throwing insults at Yuuri, though they were a bit weaker than normal. And Yuuri nervously laughed them all off.

He decided not to dwell on it, maybe Yuuri had just gotten sick of their arguing or something. He had probably been worried for no reason.


	14. Chapter 14

Yuuri felt so embarrassed. Or was this feeling humiliation? Whatever it was, he just wanted to crawl into bed and never resurface again.

He had woken in his bed, when he last remembered being at the rink. Only to be told by his big sister that he had a pretty bad panic attack and Yuuko had called her to take him home.

He had thanked his sister before quickly ringing up Yuuko to apologise, and that is where his humiliation (embarrassment? He really couldn’t decide) started.

He found out that not only did his long-time rival find out about his anxiety, but he had also been the one to calm him down during his little attack.

“D-did Viktor see?” He had asked nervously.

“No, but I think I might have scared the kid. He had tried to follow you when your panic attack started, so I ended up yelling at him.” He let out a small sigh of relief at that; Viktor didn’t need to see that. But if he was honest, no one needed to see his panic attacks.

Before he could ask about what the two Russian’s were currently up too, Yuuko had commented that the two foreigners were still skating around the rink; with Yuri coaching Viktor on some jumps and spins, which relieved him a little. He thanked her and apologised once again before being told to rest up and come thank her in person soon as she hung up. He set his phone down and moved to get up, only for Mari to push him back down and give him a dirty look. The look was accompanied by the command to stay in bed and rest up before she left the room, letting Makkachin in while she was leaving.

The brown poodle happily bound into the room, onto the bed and straight into his arms. He smiled softly to himself as he buried his face into the dog’s fur for a long moment. He still remembered when Vicchan use to help him through both panic attacks and the after effects of them.

“Good boy.” He mumbled softly before letting the dog go while he settled himself back down onto the bed. He had half expected the dog to wonder off upon being released, but to his surprise, the dog settled beside him pushing his hands with his wet nose until they were buried in the dog’s fur. He chuckled softly while starting to gently run his hands through the dog’s fur, letting the feeling of Makkachin’s presences and soft coat lull him to sleep.

***

The next few days went in a flash; he still couldn’t believe that the competition between the two Russian’s was tomorrow.

He had had no time to be awkward around the blonde Russian as said man demanded his attention, wanting to make sure that he was getting the routine right and that his jumps were up to scratch.

He didn’t know when the switch had come, but he had notice the day after his little incident that Yuri had found his Agape. His routine had turned from sharp, powerful steps, spins and turns, to an elegant, beautiful performance of the soul.

How anyone had convinced the blonde to perform fast and powerful routines when he’s strength was clearly elegance and grace, was beyond him.

Viktor on the other hand, something seemed to have clicked in the teen’s head, because since the incident, the teen had had no major problems.

His routine seemed to found the feelings it had been missing before. His step sequences became smoother, he stopped missing his jumps and he couldn’t fault the teen’s spins at all.

Overall, he was curious to see how everything would go the next day. He knew Yuri would have no issues with the audience, but how would Viktor react? He wondered if the teen had truly failed the previous year due to an injury, or did nervous have something to do with it as well.

The trio were sitting in the inns main dining room, eating dinner when Minako turned to them with a curious look.

“So, what will you do for a costume tomorrow?” He glanced towards his former ballet teacher, who had been around to give Yuri a few tips for his routine, curiously.

“Oh no. I didn’t bring anything with me! What am I going to wear?” Viktor gasped.

“I didn’t bring anything, either.” Yuri hummed while the silver haired teen bolted to his feet in a panic.

“I need to go shopping, I can’t skate in my workout clothes.” The three adults watched the teen bolt from the room, staring after him blankly. Within two minutes, the teen came slinking back into the room with an embarrassed look on his face. “Everything’s closed.” He mumbled while staring at his feet. The three adults hid their chuckles and smiles of amusement before he cleared his throat, gaining everyone’s attention.

“You can go through all my costumes if you want.” He offered while giving the Russian pair a soft smile. The smile was knocked off his face as he was tackled to the ground in a hug.

“Really?” Viktor squealed in delight while hugging the air out of his lungs.

“Might want to let Yuuri breathe, kiddo.” Minako chuckled as the teen yelp and let go of him. He coughed while catching his breath before standing up and waving the two Russian’s after him as he headed towards one of the inns spare rooms which had really been turned into his spare room were all his old costumes, trophies and skates ended up. He led the pair into the room before pulling a few selected boxes out from the pile and placing them in the centre of the room. Viktor didn’t need any prompting and started digging through the boxes he had pulled out.

The teen started letting out gasp of excitement while pulling costume after costumes out of the boxes, naming the routine he wore for a few of them.

“There are a lot of stupid ones.” He heard Yuri mumble while also going through the boxes. He knew Yuri had seen him wearing most of the costumes in the room, so he was rather curious to see what his rival picked.

“You wore this one at the Grand Prix Final last year!” Viktor shouted while holding up his Eros costume. He nodded his head, though he didn’t miss the way Yuri had looked at it curiously.

“Hey! Don’t pick anything flashier than mine!” Yuri snapped at the teen. He watched in amusement as the blonde began to push away all the dark coloured costumes, clearly looking for something in particular to catch his attention.

“I’ve never seen this one before.” He turned his gaze back to the teen to see him holding up one of his oldest costumes.

“That was the first costumes I ever wore. I won the Japanese Nationals while wearing that when I was 16.” He explained while looking at the customer that consisted of a pink glitter jacket with golden accessories.

“I pick this one.” Viktor stated almost immediately while hugging the costume to his chest. He gave a shrug while glancing toward Yuri, who was still sorting through the boxes.

“I think we should gave him some space to pick his alone.” He said with a chuckle as he herder the teen out of the room, ignoring the teens cried at wanting to look through the boxes more.


	15. Chapter 15

Yuuri watched closely as the two Russian’s in front of him warmed up as the audience was let into the skating rink.

After what felt like hours of answering reports question, they had all managed to sneak around back to let the pair warm up before the show started.

His glance moved towards Viktor who was stretching on the ground. The teen had been perfect during the interviews, happily asking questions and overall drawing the attention to him. Which had meant that he himself had very little interview time, meaning no questions on when he was coming back from his ‘break’ or if he was really coaching Viktor.

The teen had somehow been able to avoid the question as well, always answering another question or charming the interviewers with his beautiful smile.

He watched the teen a moment longer before his eyes turned towards Yuri.

The blonde, who was jogging on the spot with headphone over his ears, looked like he was off in another world.

He was still curious to see what costume the blonde was wearing because it still hadn’t been revealed. But they would know soon enough.

Yuri had taken the interviews as well as he always did, being a bit too blunt and standoffish to really get a good interview out of him.

“Yurio,” He glanced towards the entry as Yuuko popped her head in. “It’s almost time.” He turned his head back to the blonde.

“Okay.” Yuri hummed while unzipping his Russian jacket. He felt his eyes widen when he saw the costume his rival had chosen. Yuuko let out a squeal of excitement when she saw the costume as well.

“It’s the see-through costume from your junior days, Yuuri.” Yuuko said while pointing at the glittering white costume that his rival was wearing. “I never thought I’d see it again. It is still so beautiful.”

“Junior days?” Viktor questioned while getting off the ground. He gave a weak chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I only competed in the junior level for a year. And I honestly didn’t get that far.” He admitted with a weak chuckle. “I had honestly forgotten about the costume, but it really does look nice on you.” Yuri stared at him hard for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“Good luck, Yurio.” Yuuko said cheerful while pushing him towards the door that lead to the rink. “You have to go.”

Yuuri stood there with a soft smile, before turning towards Viktor who was nervously tugging on his jacket.

“Relax, Viktor, you’ll be fine.” He ensured the teen while stepping closer to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He let out a gasp as he quickly found his arms full of the silver headed teen.

“I’ll make you proud.” The teen mumbled before leaving his arms just as quickly as he had entered them. Viktor bolted from the room, leaving him alone with a small blush on his cheeks. He gently rubbed his cheek in embarrassment before taking a breath and heading out to the rink. His eyes widened as he stepped out and saw just how many people had turned up to see the two Russian’s skate off. It was the fullest he had ever seen the rink.

“Yuuri, over here.” He was grabbed by Yuuko and dragged over to an empty space near the entry of the ice rink. He barely had time to register what was being said over the loudspeaker when the music began. His eyes were drawn to his long-time rival as the man began skating to ‘In Regards to Love: Agape’. He truly was a one of a kind skater, he thought as he watched the blonde closely. After years of skating against each other, this was the first time seeing him skate something that was not fast and requited strong, sharp movements. And there was a clear difference. The beauty and gracefulness that his routine really drew out the flexibility the blonde had been fighting with his body to keep for years. His jumps, like always, were incredible and on point, always done at the perfect speed, with the correct amount of rotation and the landings were always on point. He gave a small nod of approval to himself as the routine finally came to an end, finished off with one of Yuri’s incredible spins. He smiled as he joined the crowd in their applause. Yuri wasn’t his top rival for nothing.

He turned to Viktor, only to see the teen standing there with his arms wrapped around himself. He had taken off his Russian jacket to reveal his costume and couldn’t help but be a bit jealous at how much better the costume looked on the teen than it ever did on him. The teens hair had been mostly left lose, though Minako had pinned the sides of his hair back to keep it from falling into his eyes.

“Viktor?” He questioned softly while moving to the boy’s side.

“How am I meant to follow that?” He heard the teen mumble out. He gently grabbed the boy’s face in his hands and gave him a soft smile.

“Viktor, stop thinking about that.” He said as the teen stared up at him with wide eyes. “In competitions always think about yourself. Think about the routine, about the people that you are competing for. Try not to think about the scores or the other competitors.” He blinked before giving a small chuckle as he once again found his arms full of the teen.

“I’ll show you, Yuuri. I’ll show you just how much of a prince I am. I’ll win and make you my coach.” He chuckled and gave the boy a pat on the back before pushing him towards the rink.

“Then show me.” He called out as the silvery haired teen walked out onto the ice. He watched the teen as he skated into the centre of the ring, sending out waves of greeting to everyone.

“So, it’s finally time.” He jolted slightly at the sudden voice beside him and turned to see Yuri standing there, once again back in his sweat pants and jacket.

“It is.” He said while turning back to the teen as the music begun.

It wasn’t just the music that began, but also a magical performance. The teen moved so beautifully and gracefully, but yet it was not the same as how Yuri had moved minutes ago during his own routine. He let out a choking sound as the teen throw a quadruple flip into his routine after agreeing to only doing a quadruple toe loop. Yuri snickered at him as the pair continued to stare at the teen that had capture everyone’s attention.

The teen entered into his first spin set beautiful and left it just as well, something that the teen had struggled with since the moment he turned up. Just to prove that his first spin entry and exit hadn’t been a fluke, he moved perfectly into the flying sit spin that they did not agree on doing. He let out a small sound of annoyance, or was it amazement, he couldn’t really think at this moment as he watched the teen. The teen landed the quadruple toe loop followed by a triple toe loop perfectly, though it was clear that the teen was pushing his limits. Two quads were hard for even some of the highest ranked people, so it was no surprised the teen was exhausted at this point in his routine. The music finally came to an end and Viktor stood in the middle of the ring, panting hard and staring in his direction, he smiled as he raised his hands and joined in with the huge wave of applause the teen received.

“Have fun with the brat.” Yuri said while shoving his elbow into his rib. He grunted while turning towards the blonde as he moved to leave.

“Huh? Wait! Yuri!” He shouted out after the blonde. “Where are you going? I haven’t even picked a winner.”

“I’m going home, to Russia.” Yuri said while throwing a wave of his shoulder. “We both know that the shithead won.” He stared after his rival for a second with wide eyes.

“Yuri!” He called out, causing the blonde to pause. “That was the best performance I have ever seen from you.” He stated simply. He waited, half expecting a mean look or something.

“Don’t let the teen push you around, Katsudon. And look after yourself. I won’t always be around to save your butt.” The blonde said while shooting him a cocky grin over his shoulder before he continued on his way to the exit.

He swallowed while glancing towards Viktor; who was continuing to soak up the attention of the audience.

So, he was now the coach of Viktor Nikiforov.


	16. Chapter 16

Yuuri stood outside the skating rink, enjoying the soft salty breeze and beautiful morning sunshine while he waited for one particular Russian to arrive.

He had set training for eight in the morning, thinking the teen would be up by then. Especially when the teen had all but fallen asleep in his lap after they had shared a victory katsudon together, rather early in the evening. It had been a rather cute sight, if he was honest. The silvery haired Russian, fast asleep on his shoulder with a peaceful look on his face. He had let the teen use his shoulder as a pillow for only a little while before he had taken the boy to his now vacant room and tucked him into bed.

He glanced down at his phone and let out a sigh when he saw the time, three to nine. He glanced down the road and spotted a silvery blur running towards him. He felt a small smile rise to his lips as he walked down the steps and stood on the footpath to wait for his new skater.

“Yuuri!” Viktor shouted, as the teen finally seemed to spot him before sliding to a halt in front of him. “Sorry I’m late.” He raised an eyebrow at the grin the teen gave him. Despite having overslept the teen looked perfect, which meant that the teen had actually been up for a while getting ready and just took too long, or he woke up perfect, which was just unfair. The teen’s hair was pulled into a perfect ponytail with not a hair out of place today.

“Viktor,” he said while watching the teens smile brighten even more. He reached down and grabbed the teen’s cheeks. “We need to have a serious talk about what you did yesterday. Because did you honestly believe I would forget about quadruple flip you threw in, or the flying sit spin.” He got a whine from the teen as he continued to pull on the teens cheeks before letting them go with a sigh. He watched in amusement as the teen pouted while rubbing his cheeks.

“But I did them perfectly, didn’t I?” Viktor mumbled while looking up at him with hopeful eyes. He closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh.

“Yes, you did.” He opened his eyes, only to be blinded by the bright smile that was being sent his way. He grabbed the teen by the shoulders and span him around before pushing him in the direction he had just come.

“Training starts today with a trip to one of the local temples.” He said while starting to lead the way.

“A temple? Awesome.” Viktor said with an excited look in his eyes. He kept a smile on his face as he led the way. He may not be able to lecture and scold Viktor the same way Yuri did, but he had his own way of dealing with Viktor.

***

Yuuri stood in the middle of the skating rink, smiling brightly at Viktor who was cursing him out in Russian, or so he concluded. Since returning from the temple, the teen hadn’t stopped rubbing his shoulders.

“Viktor, on the ice.” He called out, waving the teen over. The teen was on the ice and standing in front of him in seconds.

“Let’s do one run through of 'Aria: Stay Close to Me', properly. No extra or fancy jumps. Then we will talk about your short program.” He waited till he got a nod from the teen before skating to the side to give the teen the room to perform his routine. He watched closely, noting a few things that he will have to run through with the teen again, though overall, the teen had really taken the routine and made it his own. He gave the teen a smile once he finished before moving to the edge of the rink where he had left a pad and pen.

“Do you have any idea for your short?” He questioned with a tilt of his head. He frowned slightly at the blank look he got in response. “Have you ever… created any of your routines?” Once again, he got a blank response. He sighed softly to himself, he thought that Yakov gave his skaters a bit more freedom with their routines, or maybe that was just with the older ones.

“Today we will just focus on 'Aria: Stay Close to Me'. Tonight, I want you to try and pick a few pieces of music out you wouldn’t mind skating too and you can run them by me tomorrow. Okay?” He asked while noting down the jumps and spins they had originally agreed on for the free skate.

“Okay,” He heard Viktor say off in the distance as he wrote down everything. He stared down at his list for a moment before jumping when he noticed Viktor standing right beside him. “Can we keep the quadruple flip and the flying sit spin? That would mean two quads and the flying spin would really help my score.” He eyed the teen for a moment before adding the quadruple flip and flying sit spin into the routine list. He stared down at his list for a moment before showing the teen, who nodded his head in agreement.

“Good, I will run through the start of the routine and I’ll stop after the quadruple flip. Take careful notice of my hips, you aren’t quite getting the movement of the hips right during the step sequences.” He said while skating a few meters away from the teen before starting the routine.

He still couldn’t quite believe that he was now a coach. Not long ago he had been yelling at everyone for saying that he would be a good coach, but here he was. Coaching one of Russia’s up-and-coming talents. He was curious to see what Viktor would do with his career, especially after a season with him as the teen’s coach. He would have to talk to Yakov about taking the teen back under his wing after this season was over. But he supposed that was something he could think about another time; the season hadn’t begun yet. Which left them with plenty of time to not only come up with a short program, but also to perfected the now constructed free.


	17. Chapter 17

Yuuri frowned as he stared down at Viktor, who was nervously playing with the end of his hair. It was the third day in the row of asking the teen to bring him some music to skate to. So far, despite having brought ten songs to him, none of them had stood out.

“Are you sure there isn’t another song?” He questioned the teen softly, frowning slightly when he got a small shrug in response. He let out a sigh while handing the teens phone back to him. He opened his mouth to comfit the teen when the teen looked up at him with a suddenly determined look. He paused and tilted his head at the blush that had also appeared on the teen’s face.

“T-there is one song.” He blinked and gave Viktor a soft smile.

“Oh, can I listen to it?” He asked softly, Viktor hesitated for a moment before fiddling with his phone before handing it over to him. He placed the headphones back over his ears before pressing play. He paused as he listened to the music before smiling and nodding his head.

“We could work with this.” He said with a nod of his head while watching a bright smile came across the teens face.

“Really?” The teen gasped before throwing himself into his arms. He chuckled as he caught the teen and patted the boy on top of his head. Since the competition, he had found that the number of times his arms were suddenly filled by the Russian teen had increased dramatically, though he wasn’t going to complain. “I once asked Yakov to skate to this song, but he said that I wasn’t at the point of keeping up to a song like that.” He blinked, now understanding why the teen had been hesitant to show him the song. He wrapped his arms around the teen and gave him a gentle squeeze.

“I think it is the perfect song for you.” He said, earning a bright smile from the teen in response. He gently removed the teen from his arms before skating towards the speakers Yuuko had set up for them and plugged the teens phone in.

“I wasn’t aware you were into classical music, Viktor.” He called out over his shoulder.

“It’s okay,” He heard the teen mumble back in response, probably with a shrug or something. He chuckled softly while starting the music, listening closely while trying to think of where they could start with the music. He paused the song about half way through before turning around to face the silvery haired teen.

“Viktor, have you thought about your theme for the year?” Viktor paused for a moment before sending him a smile.

“Yeah, I have thought about it. I finally decided last night actually.” The teen said while doing a small spin on the ice, “Transformation.” He stared at the teen hard for a moment, waiting for the teen to continue.

“Well, you see, I’m changing, you see.” Viktor stuttered out nervously, “I’m changing my routines, my strengths, my life. I moved to Japan, Yuuri, Japan! I’m creating a new Viktor, and I can’t wait to show everyone the difference. So, my theme for the year is ‘Transformation’.” He continued to stare at the teen, watching the smile slip from his lips and his face change into a nervous look. “I-is that okay?” He let out a snort and shook his head in amusement before restarting the music.

“Transformation, what a brilliant idea.” He mumbled to himself, though he made sure that the teen could hear him. Before skating to the middle of the ring with the remote, which he handed to the Russian before gently pushing the teen out to the side. “Now let’s see what type of transformation routine I can make up for you.” He said as Viktor started the music for him. La Campanella by Franz Liszt was an interesting song choice, but it really was a good song choice for the teen, especially after hearing Viktor’s theme choice of the year. Transformation, yes, he would show the world just how big of a transformation Viktor would make under his guidance.


	18. Chapter 18

Yuuri hid a yawn behind one of his hands as he watched Viktor warm up in the skating rink. They had landed in Russian two days ago and he was still feeling the effects of jetlag. At least he wasn’t the one skating.  
The Grand Prix assignments had been announced a week before they had landed in Russia. Viktor had been assigned to the third event, the Cup of China, and the sixth event, Russia’s Rostelecom Cup. Overall, he couldn’t exactly complain with the events given to them but with an increase amount of new talent this year, it was hard to say.  
The Russian Nationals started today and unlike the Japanese Nationals, there were a lot more competitors, including Russia’s top male figure skater, Yuri Plisetsky.  
“Yuuri Katsuki.” He jolted at the sound of his name and span around to come face to face with the most famous Russian ice skating coach, Yakov. “You are wasting you talent by coaching a wild-child like Vitya.” He blinked in response before turning his gaze onto said skater. The silver headed male was practicing the step sequences of his short while effectively moving around some of the other skaters on the ice.  
“I wouldn’t call him a wild-child.” He said with a soft smile. “Viktor is more of a free spirit than a wild-child.”  
“You are letting his boyish charm affect your judgment.” He turned back to the older man and stared at him for a moment. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest and his hands trembling under the older mans hard stare, but he couldn’t back down now.  
“Let them do whatever they want, Yakov. Just means I get to crush them both in one swoop.” A voice said from behind him while an arm was draped over his shoulder. “Breathe a bit more, Katsudon.” He looked to the side to see Yuri standing there casually, if not a little sweaty, meaning he had just stepped off the ice. He felt himself take a shaky breath at Yuri’s encouragement before shrugging Yuri’s arm off him.  
“We won’t be beat easily.” Viktor’s voice shouted beside them, causing the three adults to turn towards the teen that was standing on the side of the ice rink, staring hard at them.  
“I’ll beat you, Kotenok, even if it is the last thing I do.” Yuri let out a snort at the teens statement before starting to walk away.  
“You need to rank in the top three to qualify for the Grand Prix series, brat.” The blonde said while sending them a wave over his shoulder, “With Georgi and I around, that really only leaves one spot. One spot with fifteen people fighting for it. Good luck winning that.”  
Yuuri frowned as he watched the blonde go before noticing that his heart had calmed down from the hammering it had done before. He lifted a hand to stroke his chest for a second before turning to Viktor.  
“Do a quick run through of the first two jumps of your free, than come off the ice.” The teen stared at him for a moment before grabbing his hands and smiling at him brightly.  
“You got it, coach~” The teen sang with a wink before skating off into the center of the rink to follow the orders he had given him. He turned to see Yakov still standing there, staring at him.  
“A boy like Vitya needs someone with a proper backbone to coach him. Don’t be surprised when you fail.” He blinked at the man’s assumptions before turning back to said skater.  
“No, Viktor needs someone that can keep up with him.” He told the man seriously. “You’ll be surprised at his transformation, Yakov. I can promise you that.”

***

Viktor was nervous, he really was.  
He knew that at least Yuri has been invited to compete in this year’s Grand Prix, meaning that there were only two available positions left for the Russian team.  
So, he had no clue why the stupid Kotenok was even doing here. He had won it every single year he had competed, why did he still bother to compete when he knew he would win. Well, things were going to change this year. He only had to score better than 168.60 and rank in the top three. Three out of seventeen.  
“Viktor.” He jumped in surprise at his name being called and glanced towards Yuuri to see him staring at him worriedly. They had already picked their order for the competition and were waiting for their turn and unfortunately; he had got grouped in the first group of skaters at fifth. “What’s wrong?”  
“What? Nothing.” He said while giving his coach the brightest smile he could muster. Since they had arrived today the media had been all over them, or well, all over Yuuri. They all wanted to know why he had decided to take a season off, why he was coaching and so many other stupid questions. It felt like he had dragged Yuuri away from hundreds of reporters because the man was unable to say no.  
He yelped in surprise when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him into a tight hug. He stood frozen for a moment before melting into the hug.  
“Remember what I told you during the Onsen on Ice,” He felt more than heard Yuuri mumble into his ear.  
“Think about yourself. Think bout the routine. About the people you are competing for. Don’t think about the scores or the other competitors.” He mumbled back softly before taking a deep breath and pulling back from Yuuri’s hug. He always felt better whenever Yuuri hugged him because they felt different from when he hugged Yuuri. The Japanese man seemed to smile at him before holding his hands out. He stood there frozen for a moment before realising that it was almost his turn to preform. He swallowed as he shrugged off his jacket to reveal the outfit he had chosen. Yuuri had declared that Viktor should choose his outfit, especially if he wanted to express his transformation. So, he had picked something simple, but at the same time, something to help him express his transformation. He chose a simple pair of black trousers and a white shirt, but to spice it all up he had chosen to wear a thin, gradual shade-changing blouse with a draped neckline. The top of the blouse was a very light yellow and faded all the way to a beautiful golden colour at the bottom, which was highlighted by the white shirt underneath.  
Viktor couldn’t help but take a shaky breath before turning towards Yuuri who was looking at him with a soft smile.  
“Hey now. You can do this.” He nodded his head before reaching out his hands. He smiled softly to himself as Yuuri happily wrapped him up in a hug. “Show Russia how much you have changed.” He nodded his head before pulling back and moving towards the entryway of the rink as the skater before him moved off the ice.  
“Davai.” He glanced towards Yuuri again and sent the main a bright smile as he was given the all clear to get on the ice.  
He could do this. He had too.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to apologise in advance for this chapter.  
> I was a little unsure about how to go about writing this, but I tried my best and this is what I came up with.  
> Hopefully its okay.

Yuuri frowned slightly as he watched Viktor move to the centre of the skating rink.

He could feel the nervous rolling off the teen as he positioned himself. He swallowed while crossing his arms and gripping onto his forearm nervously.

What if the teen failed? It would be because he was a bad coach. A coach unable to calm and reassure his own skater. Would Viktor leave him? Blame him?

What if-

Before he could think another thought, he watched as Viktor take a deep breath before lifting his head as the music began. The teen suddenly looked relaxed, like he hadn’t been nervous minutes ago before he got onto the ice.

They had started the routine slow, letting it increase as the music became more powerful.

Viktor skated perfectly to the ever-changing tune of the piano perfectly, nailing the first part of his step sequence.

He felt his breath catch as he watched the teen glide perfectly into the hydroblading position as he moved towards his first jump. He felt the breath leave him as the silvery haired teen easily nailed the quadruple flip, even from the awkward connecting move like the hydroblade. The Russian teen did a half rotation of the rink; face blank as he easily performed the next part of the step sequence.

He watched as the teen threw himself into a perfect flying sit spin just before the music changed before exiting the spin the second the music paused before changing tunes.

He couldn’t help but smile softly as the teen skated into a perfect triple axel jump moments before the tune started to speed up which lead perfectly into the camel sit spin with a foot change in the middle of the spin. He saw the teen step out of the spin with a slight wobble but was able to keep himself upright as he did another half rotation to the melody of the music.

Once again the music began to change again, this time changing into a quiet and soft melody that repeated itself before it started to become louder and faster, leading up into Viktor’s big jump combination.

He let out a gasp of delight when the teen landed the quadruple Salchow follow by a triple toe loop perfectly, over the last few days the teen had struggled with the progression from the Salchow to the toe loop but had nailed it perfectly.

The music took a sudden turn, turning into a fast, powerful beat, which the teen easily kept up with. Doing an almost perfect step sequence before jumping into a corkscrew sit spin in the centre of the rink.

He watched the blur of gold and silver as it slowly rose upwards as Viktor turned the corkscrew sit spin into a scratch spin before freezing in the middle of the ring with his hands thrown upwards, the music echoing around them for a moment before the rink was cast into silence.

Almost like a damn was breaking, the room filled with applause as the teen stood staring at the roof while breathing hard. He hurried around the rink towards the kiss and cry area. Almost like magic, Viktor glanced down at him and smiled brightly before turning to the audience to bow. He watched as the teen scooped up a soft toy poodle that had been thrown onto the ice for him before he turned and moved towards the exit.

Yuuri stood there, a little out of breath but smiling nonetheless. He had expected a hug from the teen, but he hadn’t been prepared for the teen to throw himself at him. He gasped as he was bowled to the ground by the silvery haired teen, who buried his head into his chest.

His eyes widened as he heard a sob escape the teen who was buried into his chest. He opened his mouth the question what was wrong only to be cut off.

“I did it.” He heard the teen sob, “I did it, Yuuri.” He smiled softly and wrapped the teen up in a tight hug.

“You did it.” He agreed before slowly sitting up and helping the crying teen slip on his blade protectors and jacket. Once that was done, he helped the boy up and moved towards the kiss and cry. He gently rubbed the teens back as the teen sent smiles and kisses towards the camera, like he hadn’t been crying his eyes out a minute ago into his coach’s chest.

He grabbed a tissue from the stupid poodle tissue box holder that the teen had insisted in bring with them, before offering it to the teen who took it with a small thank you.

“What were you thinking about?” He questioned softly as the teen blew his nose.

“Home.” He blinked at the teen’s response.

“Which one?” He questioned curiously.

“Hasetsu.” He smiled softly before turning his head as they finally announced Viktor’s scores. He felt his eyes widen before he engulfed the teen in a hug of his own.

“102.93, Viktor.” He said while hugging the teen tightly. “That’s a brilliant score.”

“I’m winning.” Viktor gasped out, he chuckled while pulling back.

“At the moment. There are still twelve other competitors to compete. But with a score like that, you should hopefully rank in the top five.” He ensured the teen.

He felt in awe of the teen that was able to so easily forget about all his nervous to perform a stunning short program. And the Grand Prix hadn’t even started yet.

Viktor never failed to surprise him.


	20. Chapter 20

Yuuri was scrolling through instagram while lying in bed.

The rest of the day had been rather exhausting. Viktor and himself had to sit around and watch the other twelve competitors skate. Despite his perfect score, the silvery haired Russian had been bumped down to second place by none other than Yuri Plisetsky. He had to admit that the blonde Russian had skated ‘In Regards to Love: Agape’ flawlessly, though the blonde clearly didn’t get the score he wanted by the look on his face. He had to assume that Yuri was attempting to break his short program world recorded.

He let out a small yawn as he shifted onto his side. It would be another big day for them tomorrow, especially with them being second last. Maybe it was time for him to go to bed. He reached out to grab his phone charger when he heard a soft knock at the door.

He blinked in confusion as he glanced towards the door before dragging himself off the bed and to the door. He opened it and came face to face with Viktor. A rather stressed Viktor by the look of it.

The silvery haired teen was staring at the ground while hugging a stuffed replica of Makkachin to his chest. The teen was dressed for bed, wearing his favourite pyjamas which consisted of silk pants and extra-large shirt that had poodles printed all over it. The teens hair was braided neatly over his shoulders, looking even shinier than it had earlier, meaning the teen had probably washed it.

He stood staring at the teen in confused for a moment. The pair had enjoyed a small dinner together before he had sent the teen back to his room to relaxes and rest for his skate tomorrow.

“I can’t sleep.” He heard the boy mumbled, “Can I stay with you for a while?”

Yuuri smiled softly while moving to the side, allowing the boy plenty of room to enter. The teen glanced up hesitantly before giving an adorable smile as he entered the room and made a beeline for the bed. He rolled his eyes as he watched the teen pounce on the bed and stretch himself out, trying to take up as much bed as he could. He grabbed his phone and put it on charge before forcing the teen to move over so he could also lie down.

“What’s wrong?” He questioned as they lied there. He watched as the teen shifted around so they were facing each other, the Makkachin replica still attached to the teens chest.

“I’m in second place.” He blinked at the teen’s statement.

“And?” Viktor let out a loud sigh as he grabbed the end of his hair and started to fiddle with it.

“It’s pretty safe to say that the stupid Kotenok had a place in the Grand Prix, meaning there is only two places left.” He nodded his head slowly.

“Yes, each country is only allowed to enter three skaters.”

“So, there are only two places left. Meaning if I don’t perform well tomorrow, someone else could take my position at the Grand Prix.” Viktor mumbled while throwing his hair over his shoulder.

“And you will do fine.” He said with a soft smile. “You did fine today. Despite how nervous you are, you went out on the ice and didn’t let the pressure get to you. It was incredible. It took me years to learn that.” The teen stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before blushing.

“I… I just did what you told me.” Viktor mumbled before burying his face into the Makkachin toy. “You said to think about the people I was skating for. And everything just seemed to fade away as the music started…”

Yuuri blushed lightly before reaching over to push a strand of the teen’s hair out of his face. He gasped slightly as he felt Viktor grab his hands and bring it to his cheek. “I thought about you. I wanted to make you proud.” He stared at the teen as he felt his blush deepen. “Did I make you proud?”

“Yes.” He mumbled as he watched Viktor move closer so there was barely any room between them. He couldn’t take his eyes off the teen that smiled so brightly at him, especially the soul-expressive eyes that just drew him in.

“Good.” He vaguely remembered the teen reply as he softly stroked the teen’s cheek with the hand that had been placed there. He couldn’t tell you how long they stayed like that, laying there with barely any room between them as they stared at each other. He jolted slightly as he felt the teen’s hands moving up his face and to his glasses. He swallowed as his glasses were removed and the world went fuzzy around him. He watched as the fuzzy figure of Viktor shifted around to set his glasses somewhere safe before turning back to him. He couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips as Viktor settled right back into the position he was in before, with barely any space between them.

And then suddenly, the breath was stolen from him as soft lips covered his. He felt his cheeks turn an even darker shade of red as they slowly drifted apart.

“Can I stay the night?” He stared at the Russian in front of him before nodding his head, still unable to find his voice after what had just happened.

Viktor Nikiforov had kissed him.


	21. Chapter 21

Yuuri stood to the side as he watched Viktor closely. The teen had his earphones in and was practicing a few of his steps, a look of pure concentration on the male’s face. It was something he hadn’t seen before.

Nothing had happened last night after their brief kiss, which still turned him into a blushing mess when he thought about it. They had simply lied there, facing each other with barely any room between them. When it started to get late, he had gotten up to turn off all the lights and joined the teen under the covers of the bed. His arms were quickly filled by the teen after he had settled down and that was how he had fallen asleep; with Viktor buried into his chest, safe and sound.

He heard the audience start to applaud loudly above then, signalling the end of another skater’s routine.

“Popovich, Nikiforov, Plisetsky.” One of the backstage crew called out along with some other words in Russian he didn’t quite catch. But he had caught the word rink, which probably meant it was time for the last skaters to warm up on the ice before it was time. He glanced around and caught Yuri who pointed towards the ice with his head, confirming his thoughts.

He moved towards Viktor, who hadn’t heard the announcement and grabbed the teen’s hand. Viktor jolted in surprise before taking out his earphones with an excited look.

“Warm ups?” He nodded his head while letting his hand drop from the Russians.

Viktor handed his phone and earphones over before shrugging off his coat and following his competitors out onto the ice. He barely caught the teen’s coat that had been randomly thrown in his direction in the teen’s eagerness to get onto the ice.

He smiled as he slowly moved around the outside edge of the rink as he watched Viktor use the couple of minutes he had on the ice to practice a few of the harder parts of his routine.

“Hips.” He shouted out and gave a thumbs up as Viktor became more careful with his hips movements.

“Missing the ice yet?” He heard someone mumble before ice shavings were thrown in his direction. He frowned slightly as he watched Yuri skate away with a smirk on his lips.

He always missed the ice, but did he miss the pressure of competing? Not at all.

“Viktor.” He called out, which caused the teen to break out of the step sequence he was practicing and skate towards him. “Practice one quadruple flip. Watch your hip movements.” He got a smirk from the teen.

“What this? Yuuri is being serious~” His eyes widened at the Russian’s words before he blushed deeply. He heard Viktor giggle before skating off; despite his embarrassment he watched the silvery haired male close as he followed his comments. Practicing a single quadruple flip, something that was quickly turning into Viktor’s signature move, and moving straight back into practicing his step movement, though it was clear he was focusing a lot more on how he moved his hips as he did so.

After the small warm up, the last group of skaters was called off the ice. He helped Viktor slip his jacket on as Georgi Popovich prepared to start skating.

“Do you think I can win?” Viktor asked as he stared out over the ice.

“No,” He replied simply, earning a small gasp and a look of disbelief from the teen. “You won’t win if you follow the routine we agreed on.” He could see the teen slowly going over the routine in his, clearly trying to think of ways to add in some more points. He flicked the teen’s nose, earning another gasp and look of disbelief.

“You don’t need to win. Save whatever scam you have in your head.” He warned the teen, “You need to rank second or third, which you can do if you follow what we agreed on and land your jumps.” He said before pulling a small tube of lip balm from his pocket. “Your lips are dry.” Yuuri couldn’t help pointing out while squeezing a small amount onto his finger and raising it to Viktor’s lips. He ignored the smile that was planted on the Russian’s lips as he covered them. Before he could pull his hand away, Viktor grabbed his hand and planted a kiss on his palm.

“What do I get if I win?” Was the question he got, along with a cheeky smirk.

“Nothing. I don’t want you to win. Save all your tricks for the Grand Prix.” He said before leaning over to rest his forehead on Viktor’s. He watched as Viktor closed his eyes and let out a deep breath as they stood there with foreheads touching.

“Okay.” Was the soft reply he got, “But can I get a kiss if I win?” He frowned and pulled away, earning a whine from the teen.

“No.” Was his simple response as he held his hand out. Viktor stared at him hard for a moment before he realised what was going on and shrugged off his jacket and headed for the ice.

“Davai.” He called out, earning himself a bright smile in response.

***

“Since this time last year, a lot of things have changed for me. I have grown, changed, found new things to embrace and created a new Viktor Nikiforov. So, my theme for this year is ‘Transformation’. I wish to share with everyone the change between the new and old me.” Yuuri read the subtitles on the television that was reporting the Grand Prix program themes for the Russian skaters. He chuckled softly and shook his head before bring the hot cup of tea up to his lips to take a sip.

“Why did they have to have subtitles?” He heard the male beside him whine in annoyance. He glanced to the side to see Viktor glaring at the television with an annoyed look.

“What wrong with subtitles? It means I can make sure you didn’t embarrass yourself on national television.” He pointed out while nudging the teen with his shoulder.

“I thought you would be more cheerful than this. You got second place in the Russian Nationals.” Viktor let out a sigh while flicking some of his hair over his shoulder.

“Exactly, second. That stupid Kotenok beat me.” Yuuri couldn’t help the smirk that rose to his lips. The pair was currently sitting in the Russian airport, waiting for their flight back to Japan. After placing second in the Russian Nationals, they had boarded a train for Moscow; decided it was easier to stay in Russia for the extra week for the theme announcement than to return home, only to fly back a few days later.

The week had been rather interesting, if he was honest. Viktor had been determined to show him as many of his favourite things as he could with the time they had. He had tried so many different foods in the last few days that he couldn’t help but crave some of his parents homemade cooking. Not saying the food was bad, he rather enjoyed a number of Viktor’s favourites, but the food was so different from what he was use too.

Thankfully, Yuri had somehow tracked them down on their last few days in Moscow and had taken them to a skating rink they could use for training. The rink had been used by a number of the other skaters staying in Moscow for the Grand Prix theme announcement, which included Russia’s two other hopefuls. Georgi Popovich and Yuri, of course.

Sharing the rink hadn’t been that bad of a thing, Viktor had been given a number of pointers from his senior skaters and the pair had been invited out to dinner every night they were there, which meant sharing more of Russia with him, or so Viktor had said every night they went out.

He paused to take a sip of his tea again before reaching over to pat the teen on the head.

“You’ll beat him next time we come back.” He promised, earning a hopeful smile from the teen.

“Sounds good to me.” Viktor said before leaning over and resting against his arm. He blinked before blushing.

Something had changed between them, that much was obvious. Viktor suddenly took every change he could to touch him, which he didn’t mind, at least most of the time. He rather enjoyed the attention, if he was honest with himself. He was fixated on the teen and he knew, he knew that this beautiful male would be the end of him.

He struggled with good things, after all.

And this was so much more than a good thing.


	22. Chapter 22

“Yuuri,” He let out a hum of response as he put his water bottle down. With only a few more days until they flew over to China for Viktor’s first Grand Prix competition, the pair were working on the more difficult components of his routines. “Teach me to jump.”

Yuuri’s head snapped to the teen with a confused look. The teen stood a few meters away on the ice, pulling his hair back into a ponytail while staring at him with a serious look.

“Pardon?” He questioned, wondering if he had heard right. By the pout that he received from the Russian, it seems he had.

“Teach me to jump. I’m getting board of keeping my jumps simple and easy.” Viktor whined while moving his hands to his hips. “Teach me to jump like you, so I can start upgrading my jumps.” He frowned while staring at the teen before letting out a sigh of defeat.

“What quads have you landed before?” He questioned, earning a gasp of delight and an armful of the silvery haired male. He couldn’t help the blush that appeared on his cheeks as the younger male hugged him.

“I can land the toe loop, the Salchow, the flip and the Lutz.” He raised an eyebrow at the Russian’s confident statement while the teen continued to hug him around the waist.

“Really?” He questioned and got a nod into his chest.

“Still can’t land a quad axel or quad loop.” The Russian mumbled with a sour look on his face as he finally pulled away from his chest. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the sour look; he didn’t know anyone that could land a quadruple Axel in competition. He also didn’t know enough skaters outside of competitions to say if anyone could land one in practice or not. And the quadruple loop was a difficult one to land, even he felt uncomfortable attempting them. 

“Show me.” He said while gently untangling the teen’s arms from around him. The Russian stared at him for a moment before nodding his head with a bright smile and moving to skate around the ring. For the next couple of minutes, Viktor demonstrated all his quads, and it was amazed to say the least.

At Viktor’s age, he was only just landing a quad toe loop and here the silvery haired male was, not only landing the quad toe loop but also almost all the other jumps. He couldn’t help but applaud as Viktor finished his jumping demonstration with a quad Lutz. The Russian came to a haul a few meters away from where he landed his quad Lutz, breathing hard.

He stopped his applause and skated over to the teen, amused by blue-eyed male’s poor stamina.

“We will slowly add in more difficult jumps into your routines.” He said, earning a small nod from the teen that slowly bend over and used his knees for support.

“C-can,” The teen panted before taking a deep breath, “Can I skate the proper ‘Aria: Stay close to me’? The one you showed me?” Yuuri stared at the teen before slowly nodding.

“Not in China. We will look into practicing it between China and Russia, and if it isn’t ready by then, you can use it in the Finals.” Viktor grinned in delight before jumping towards him in delight, knocking them both to the ground in a hug. He had somewhat been expecting the hug but his eyes widen at the kiss that found its way onto his lips.

“Can we start now?” Viktor said while staring down at him with a bright smile. He stared at the Russian, cheeks ablaze from Viktor’s kiss, unable to find his voice. His speechlessness earned him a giggle of amusement before the silvery haired male got off him and helped him up off the ice.

“You look really cute when you blush, Yuuri.” Viktor said with a soft smile before pushing himself backwards on the ice and skating away after sending him a wink.

He couldn’t help but stare after the younger male who had moved to take a drink from his water bottle.

It was only their second kiss but he was noticing a pattern.

Whenever Viktor kissed him, he was left a blushing, speechless mess.

And the younger man found it adorable.


	23. Chapter 23

“Viktor! Viktor! Over here!” Yuuri stood there with a forced smile on his lips as he mentally reminded himself to breath. They had landed in China yesterday and after a day of relaxing, they had come down to the skating rink to check the arena out and do a few interviews for publicity.

While he was having, trouble keeping himself calm, Viktor was soaking up the attention. The reports had found them almost immediately when they entered the building to check the rink, throwing questions at them from every direction. The young Russian attempted to answer as many questions as he could, throwing dazzling smiles at the camera while doing so. Despite the act that the teen was putting on for the camera, it was clear that the teen was over it all.

“Psst, Yuuri,” He glanced down at Viktor who was still smiling and waving for the camera’s, “Can we go have a hot pot already?” He couldn’t help the chuckle that left him, which drew the reports attention to him.

“Mister Katsuki, what are your plans for next season?” Yuuri laughed nervously as all the attention was suddenly drawn to him. He honestly hadn’t thought about it, but he didn’t want to admit that.

“I apologise everyone, but Coach Katsuki and I are a little short on time at this very moment. So, you’ll have to excuse us! We will happily answer more of your questions tomorrow.” Viktor said while grabbing his hand and leading him away. He let out a small breath of relief as the reports disappeared from their sights.

“So, about that hot pot?” He glanced towards Viktor with a frown.

“You have a competition tomorrow.” Yuuri pointed out, earning a pout from the Russian.

“And?” Viktor mumbled.

“And, a hot pot has a lot of calories.” He got a snort in reply as the teen pulled out his phone.

“It just one meal. Come on, hot pot awaits!” He groaned as he was pulled along by the teen.

In a matter of what felt like minutes, they were seated in a lovely restaurant with food being spread out in front of them.

“Look, Yuri!” He watched Viktor as he stared at all the food he had ordered in amusement. “Shanghai crab! Drunken shrimp! Duck blood!” Yuri chuckled to himself while picking up his chopsticks. The Russian’s childish excitement was cute, no, adorable. He reached over for the shanghai crab when he heard a cry of joy in shouted Russian come from the silvery haired male.

“Vkusno!” He glanced up to see the younger male happily eating the shrimp without a care in the world. A single glance at the raw sea creature made his stomach do a flip, he never ate raw food before a competition and it looked like, even as a coach, he would not be touching it.

“How do you think I went in the interviews? Everyone seemed to like it.” Viktor mumbled around a mouthful of ducks’ blood. He smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

“Everyone did like it. Which is good. The easier you are on camera, the more attention you get.” He admitted while nibbling on the crab he had grabbed.

“Is that why you are so popular? Because you can charm a camera with your innocence!” His eyes widen in shock and something catch in his throat, causing him to cover his mouth as he coughed madly. Earning a delighted giggle from the male sitting across from him. “Naw, you are blushing again, Yuuri!” He grabbed the glass of water in front of him and took a large gulp before breathing out a sigh, having dislodged whatever had gotten stuck in his throat.

“Oh, Yuri?” He perked up at the sound of his name and smiled brightly when he spotted the person who had called out to him. It was a good distraction from Viktor’s comments after all.

“Phichit-kun!” He called out in excitement, earning himself a grin and wave in return.

“Really, Yuri? Back to ‘kun’,” Phichit asked teasingly while smiling at him. “So, this is where you were eating!”

“Hi!” Viktor called out, drawing the Thai males attention to him.

“Oh, hello.” Phichit greeted before sliding into the seat before him. “Talk about a coincidence. Oh, can I invite Ciao Ciao?” He gave a nervous smile as Phichit brought out his phone and already started to type away. “You want to see him, don’t you?”

“Not really…” He mumbled but it was already too late it seemed because his phone was already being slipped back into his pocket. Viktor seemed pleased with the thought of others joining them.

“So, are you looking after my Yuuri, Viktor?” Phichit asked while wrapping an arm around his shoulder and pulling him close.

“Yes! Of course!” He let out a groan as the pair suddenly dived into a conversation about him. Despite all attempts to escape, Phichit refused to let him go until Celestino arrived.

“Ciao, ciao!” Celestino greeted as he approached the table. Phichit finally released him but didn’t let him move, meaning that Celestino sat himself down beside Viktor.

“Good jump on getting such a good coach, kid.” Celestino laughed while hitting the Russian on the back, rather hard if the teen’s slight cough was anything to go by.

“Thanks! Thank you for the recommendation.” Celestino laughed at the teens praise, “Want some shrimp?” Viktor then asked, offering the older coach some of the raw sea creature.

“Oh, that kind of food doesn’t agree with me.” Celestino said with a rather nervous laugh.

“It’s really good!” The teen promised while holding out a shrimp. Phichit laughed in amusement as Celestino leant away from the teen and the offered shrimp.

“Viktor.” The Russian glanced towards him at the sound of his name and pursed his lips together before popping the offered shrimp into his mouth. He sent the teen a happy smile, which earned him one in return.

“So, rumour has it that you not only choreographed Viktor’s routines but also one of the Russian Yuri’s!” Phichit said with a smirk, “Is that true?”

“Yeah! He taught that stupid Kotenok the opposite routine to his short skate last season!” Viktor answered for him, earning himself a curious look from his former-coach and best friend.

“You taught Plisetsky, Agape?” Celestino questioned. He nodded his head while pretending to eat to draw the attention away from himself.

“Wait! I remember seeing it on the Skate Canada highlights!” Phichit gasped in delight before clapping his hands. “It was amazing. You were right saying that it needed someone flexible like Plisetsky to do it, Ciao Ciao!”

“It really was incredible. I don’t have half the flexibility he has.” Viktor mumbled between mouthfuls of crab.

“None many of us do.” Phichit laughed before pulling his phone out. “Oh, I invited Leo and Guang-Hong to join! I hope you don’t mind!”

Yuuri let out a nervous laugh while swallowing hard, he knew that Phichit would never purposely make him uncomfortable and just wanted him to stay in touch with some of the other skaters but he sort of wanted to go back to their hotel and sleep.

He glanced towards Viktor to see the teen happily talking with Phichit, clearly excited about seeing the two skaters that would be joining them. He let out a sigh and decided that he could sit around for a little while longer and let Viktor enjoy sometime with people his own age.

“Can I invite Chris?” Viktor asked while pulling out his phone.

Yuuri couldn’t help but let out a groan. He changed his mind; he wanted to go back to the hotel.


	24. Chapter 24

“Viktor~” Said male lifted his head up at the call of his name and grinned in delight.

“Chris~” He shouted while getting up from his seat and diving for his best friend. He laughed in delight as the duel coloured hair teen caught him and lifted him off his feet in a hug.

“Oh how I have missed you.” Chris cooed, causing him to giggle as he once again found himself on his feet.

“I missed you too, my sweet.” He said with a small sigh, only to gasp as a hand found its way onto his butt.

“Looks like you got into shape.” Viktor rolled his eyes while giving Chris shoulder small shove.

“Chris.” He whined, though the grin didn’t leave his lips.

“Guess your new master’s giving you very through training.” He giggled as Chris wiggled his eyebrows before glancing around. “Talking about new masters. Where is the living legend?” Viktor paused and glanced behind him to see that Yuuri was no longer in his seat beside Phichit.

“He was right here.” He whined while grabbing Chris’ hand and walking him over to the table where Phichit, Leo and Guang-Hong now sat. “Where’s Yuuri?” He questioned while Chris and him took a seat.

“Celestino and Yuuri just left.” Leo said with a shrug.

“They were talking about getting an adult drink or something.” Phichit said with a snort. “Like most of us here aren’t of age or something. No offence Guang-Hong, Chris.” The two seventeen years’ olds waved the Thai man off.

“Have you eaten, Chris? Should we order you some food?” Leo asked, Chris gave a smile before shaking his head.

“Yeah, I’ve eaten. No need to order food for me.” Chris said with a wave of his hand before turning towards him. “Unless you are on the menu.” He snorted at his best friends’ response while giving him a small shove.

“Keep dreaming.” He responded while sticking his tongue out, only to freeze when Chris grabbed his face in one of his hands.

“Don’t stick your tongue out at me, it’s too tempting.” There was a click of a camera shutter and the pair glanced to the side to see Phichit grinning while holding his phone up.

“So, are you two dating?” The older male asked with a tilt of his head and an innocent smile.

“No.” They both replied, though his own response was muffled lightly because of the grip Chris still had on his face.

“You sure?” Leo questioned with a raised eyebrow. Chris let go of his cheeks before grabbing his glass and taking a sip. He frowned and stole the drink back with a playful glare.

“Just friends.” Chris stated with a smile that was aimed at him.

“Best friends.” He said while leaning against Chris’ arms.

“Besides, Vik has a crush.” His eyes widen and he sat upright.

“Chris!” He hissed while giving the younger male a slap.

“Oh?” The three other skaters sitting across from them perked up at the information.

“Please tell us more.” Phichit said with a grin.

“No!” He shouted in a panic while attempting to cover up Chris’ mouth but the younger male moved away from his hands, grinning at him.

“Oh, it’s just on this one particular skater.” Chris said while grabbing his hands. He pouted at his best friend, who leant over and nuzzled his cheek in apology.

“You have a crush on Yuuri!” Guang-Hong shouted with a blush. Leo and Phichit glanced towards the younger Chinese boy before turning to him with matching smirks.

“Viktor has a crush on his coach, does he?” Phichit sung with a smirk.

“No! Chris is lying!” He huffed, though he could feel his cheeks burning. Chris giggled beside him before pulling away.

“Your blush is adorable.” He sent a glare his friend’s way, only to receive a wink in response.

“How is training with your crush?” Leo questioned him. He glanced around the table at the four other skaters before sighing.

“Yuuri has a cute blush.” He admitted with a sigh, earning four separate gasps and a dozen questions thrown his way. He smiled while glancing towards his best friend. Chris raised an eyebrow curiously and he smiled while mouthing the word ‘later’ to him. The dual haired teen gave him a slight nod before they turned back to the bombardment of questions from the opposite side of the table.


	25. Chapter 25

Viktor huddled into Chris’ side as the pair walked back to their hotel.

“So, tell me all the goss.” Chris prompted while burying his hands into Viktor’s pocket.

“I just told you all the goss.” He said with a roll of his eyes while pushing a strand of his hair behind his ear. “Weren’t you listening in the restaurant?”

“We both know you were holding back something.” Chris mumbled in his ear while a smirk. Viktor sighed, attempting to look annoyed but couldn’t quite manage it with the smile he held on his face.

“Fine, fine. I yield, I was holding back some information.” He said with a sigh of defeat, while bumping his hips with his best friends. “I’ve kissed him, twice.”

The confession earned him a gasp of delight before he was lifted off the ground in a hug.

“Chris!” He squealed before giggling as he hugged his friend back. Despite being a year younger than him, Chris could easily lift him up because the younger skater was both taller and musclier than him.

“You kissed him?” Chris asked while putting him down. He giggled while nodding his hand. He grabbed the Swiss figure skaters hand as he jumped up onto the fence that separated a park from the main street. It took him a moment to balance before he to walk along it, holding Chris’ hand tightly as he walked along the fence.

“Yeah. When I was on my way to meet him, I thought he be this cool, collected guy but Yuuri is the opposite.” He explained with a dreamy sigh, “He’s shy, quiet and he gets flustered so easily. Both times I’ve kissed him, he has turned bright red and been unable to speak.” He couldn’t help the giggle that escaped him. Chris stepped in front of him as the fence ended and grabbed his waist and lifted him up into the air and span him around a few times before placing him down on the next fence. He giggled while waiting for Chris to move to his side before grabbing his hand and starting to walk again.

“Sounds like you are falling in love with him.” He wobbled at Chris’ comment almost losing his balance but being able to steadying himself before he fell off.

“Huh,” He mumbled quietly to himself, “Is this what love feels like?” He questioned softly while starting to walk along the fence again, earning a chuckle from his friend.

“Sounds like it to me,” Chris said with a shrug. He nodded his head slowly as he glanced down at the duel-coloured haired male.

“How’s things with Noah?” He asked with a tilt of his head, earning himself a dreamy sigh from the younger skater.

“So good, Vik.” Chris said with a gentle smile on his lips. “We have been talking about a holiday together when the season ends, after my birthday, of course.” He smiled brightly at his friend before pausing to jump off the fence.

“I noticed he didn’t come with you this time, any reason?” He questioned with a tilt of his head. Chris pouted while pulling him close to his side for warmth again.

“He had to work.” He chuckled at the huff his best friend gave at the fact that he boyfriend was too busy to come with him to China to watch him skate.

“Well that’s too bad for him. That means more Christophe for me.” He cooed while nuzzling the younger skaters neck, earning a chuckle from said skater.

“How’s things with the family? Heard anything?” Chris questioned, causing him to pause his nuzzling and shrugged in response as they finally entered the hotel.

“Want to come to my room to hang?” He questioned, only to smile brightly at the nod he got in response. They moved towards the elevators, entering the next free one and heading up to his floor. “My mother tried to contact me a few months back. I ignored the call and listened to the voicemail later on. It was the same old stuff.” He said with a deep sigh, “I miss you. Come visit soon. Oh, can we have some more money.” He mimicked his mother before shaking his head.

“That’s no good, Vik.” Chris said while squeezing his side.

“I’m used to it. What about you? How’s the family?” He questioned while leaning into his friends’ side.

“Mama’s starting to talk to me again.” His eyes widened and he pulled back to look at his friend in delight.

“That’s amazing.” He said, throwing his arms around the Swiss man’s neck and hugging him tightly, earning him a chuckle and a hug in return.

“I know. We’ve had lunch a couple of times and she even willing met Noah.” Chris told him excitingly, he smiled at his friend before unwrapping himself from around Chris’ neck and leading the younger teen to his room and letting him in. The pair quickly removed their coats and shoes before climbing into the double bed together.

“And by that smile, I’m guessing it all went well?” Viktor questioned his friend, earning him a bright grin.

“Yes, she loves him. Thinks he is the perfect gentleman.” The pair giggled and continued to gossip until they both fell asleep, curled up in bed tomorrow.


	26. Chapter 26

Yuuri stared at himself in the mirror, wondering if he looked okay.

He wasn’t sure how he should dress as a coach. He knew that a lot of them just wore workout gear but he just didn’t feel comfortable wearing that sort of stuff in front of the camera, unless he was competing.

So, he had chosen a pair of simple black slacks with a blue dress-shirt and grey waistcoat. He finally let out a sigh before moving to his bag to pull out his trench coat. Viktor had gotten it for him while they were in Russia waiting for the Grand Prix theme announcement meeting. It was a light brown in colour and the silvery haired male said that it looked very good on him.

He had just shrugged it on when there was a knock on the door. He pulled his phone out of his pocket, glancing at the time and realising it was probably Viktor coming to ask him out for breakfast. He walked over and open the door, only to pause and frown in confusion.

“Mister Katsuki, I’m Josef Karpisek. I’m-“ The bald man in front of him stated.

“Christophe Giacometti coach, I’m aware.” He said with a nod, still confused why the man was at his door. He took a nervous breath, hoping it wasn’t obvious.

“Have you checked your instagram this morning?” He raised an eyebrow at the other man’s question before shaking his head.

“My student is missing and instagram tells me that he will be with yours.” Josef explained, prompting him to unlock his phone and open up instagram. He felt his eyes widen and a blush raise to his cheeks at the first photo he found, posted by none other than Phichit with the comment, _‘Look at these two~’_. The photo was of Chris holding Viktor’s face in one hand with barely a centimetre between them.

“Don’t get so embarrassed. This is quite common for them. They are only friends; I can ensure you.” Josef said with a chuckle. “May we check your students room? Hopefully they are both there.” He nodded his head slowly.

“Y-yeah, let me get the key cards.” He mumbled while hurrying into the room and grabbing both Viktor and his key cards along with his backstage pass for the competition. He hurried out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him. He led the way to the other side of the floor where Viktor’s door was. He knocked on the door as he inserted the key card and let himself in.

“Viktor! Time to get up!” He shouted as he entered with Josef three steps behind him. As the bald coach, had expected, there on the bed was the two teenagers, fast asleep on opposite sides of the bed. He had worried momentarily that he would find the Russian curled up around the Swiss skater like he normally did with him but the pair clearly weren’t like that. He jumped slightly as light filtered into the room, causing him to glance to the window where Josef was standing.

“UP!” The bald man shouted, startling the two teens awake. He held back a smirk of amusement as the two teens glance around before groaning and burying their heads back into their respected pillows. “Up, both of you! We have less than three hours to eat breakfast and get down to the rink for warm ups.” He couldn’t help the chuckle that left him at the joint groan they received from the teen. He saw Viktor head pop up from his pillow and glance towards his direction before giving him a sleepy smile.

“Good morning, Yuuri.” Viktor mumbled before burying his face into his pillow again. A snort of amusement left the Swiss skater at the exchange, or so he guessed. He opened his mouth to ask the teens to get up when Josef pulled the blankets off the teens, earning gasps as their heat source left them.

“Time to get up. If you don’t hurry all the good breakfast will be gone.” He said softly, earning both teens attention.

“You aren’t wearing glasses.” Viktor stated simply was staring at him. He blushed while waving the pair out of bed.

“Contacts today. Now, come on. Out of bed.” With defeated groans, the teens finally got off the bed. With both teens, up at least, Josef grabbed his skater and started to pull the teen out of the room, mumbling to him in what he assumed was Swiss. He waved goodbye to the pair as they left to get the Swiss skater ready for the day.

“You are right, Vik. The blush is cute.” Chris shouted out as he left the room, earning a giggle in response from the Russian teen. He felt his cheeks head up at the comment before he turned back to his own skater and pointed towards the shower.

“Shower, now.” He said while trying to avoid making eye contact with his teen. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist and a kiss planted on his cheek.

“You look handsome today, especially without your glasses.” He felt the blush already on his cheeks deepen at the teens comment.

“Sh-sh-sh-shower, Viktor.” He stuttered out, earning a giggle in response as he felt the teen slip away from him and into the bathroom. He let out a sigh as he sat down on the bed.

Viktor would be the death of him.


	27. Chapter 27

Yuuri stood off to the side as he watched Viktor jogged up and down, trying to stay warmed before his turn on the ice.

The morning had gone rather well, with the pair eating breakfast and making it to the rink with plenty of time to spare.

But he had noticed that the Russian hadn’t been himself since his shower this morning. The normally flirtatious teen that refused to leave his personal space most of the time, had barely touched him. When they had spoken, it was purely on his routine. No added comment on how he looked or to try and make him blush.

It was almost like the teen was focused. The teen had only stepped out of his focused zone to give Chris a good luck hug but was immediately back to warming up.

“I’ve never seen Viktor like this.” He glanced to his side to see Chris standing beside him, watching Viktor as he moved up and down the small hallway.

“Me either.” He said while giving the young Swiss teen a gentle smile. The dual-coloured teen blinked a few times before his cheeks turned a light shade of red.

“It’s like-“ Chris started as they both returned to looking at the silvery haired teen.

“He’s completely focused.” He finished off with a nod of his head. “Now that I think back, I have seen him like this. He gets like this on the ice as his routine starts.” He heard Chris hum thoughtfully beside him.

“Now that you mention it, yeah.” He gave the Swiss a gentle pat on the back, “Go finish your stretches. You won’t have long left if you want to see Viktor skate.” Chris blinked before nodding and hurrying back to his stretches. He grabbed Viktor’s hand as he moved to pass him again, jolting the teen to look at him.

“It’s almost time.” He told the Russian, earning a blink and nod of his head.

“Oh.” He smiled while handing the teen a drink bottle. Viktor took it was a small ‘thank you’, moments before his name was called. He took the drink bottle back while following after the teen as they moved out onto the main stage. He glanced at a television as they passed by, lucking getting to see the current ranking. Two skaters were down, one of them being Phichit who skated beautifully, but both under ninety. It wasn’t that surprising, it was rather uncommon to get a score over one hundred. But Viktor had done it once already, could he do it twice. He held his hand to take the Russian’s blade protectors and jacket as he stepped into the rink.

“Viktor,” The silvery haired male paused and glanced towards him with a tilt of his head. “You’ll do amazing, don’t worry too much.” He got a bright smile in response before he felt arms wrap around his neck.

“Thank you, Yuuri.” He felt more than heard the teen say near his ear before he was released. He smiled with a light blush dusting his cheeks as he watched Viktor moved to the centre of the ice.

The music started and he watched Viktor Nikiforov the Professional Ice Skater come to life. There was something about the way that Viktor came to life during competitions that was breathtaking. He had never seen anything like it. During practice, he was still the Russian teenager Viktor, but in the rink during a competition, he was someone else.

He felt a small gasp leave him as Viktor’s quadruple Salchow, triple toe loop combination turned into a quadruple Salchow, double toe loop. He had seen the teen enter the combination a little too fast, he was honestly surprised that he had even managed to land the quadruple Salchow as well as he did. But if Viktor was anything, he was a performer, easily able to play off any mistakes he made. He felt a sigh leave him as the teen finished the rest of his routine without another slip up. The small slip up wouldn’t affect the teen’s score too much; it was better than a touchdown or a fall. He hurried to the kiss and cry and almost immediately had his arms full of the silvery haired teen.

“It’s okay. It was just a small slip up. Much better than a touchdown. It was a good call.” He ensured the teen while hugging his back.

“Really?” Viktor mumbled out while finally looking up at him, he gave a soft smile and nodded his head.

“You turned a triple into a double. You still landing two quads.” He reminded the teen while helping him sit down and slip his jacket on. “You should still get a high score. You might just miss out of a hundred but only barely.” Viktor glanced towards him nodding his head.

“You did good.” He promised while patting the teens back. Viktor took a deep breath before smiling bright at the camera and sending it hearts with his hands. He let out a small sigh he was holding subconsciously when the teen finally started to relax. But the moment was short lived as the teen tensed up at the started to announce his results, after a moment for his score to sink in; he let out a laugh as Viktor hugged him happily.

 “100.02.” Viktor shouted happily with a huge grin. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the teens sudden mood turn around. Minutes ago, the teen was panicking for changing a triple to a double during his jump combination, after landing two quads. He waved for the camera with Viktor before helping the teen out back. He heard the teen let out a small sigh when the cameras were out of view.

“I’m sorry.” He flicked the teen’s forehead at the apology.

“Viktor, you landed two quads, there is no need to apologise for turning a triple into a double.” He ensured the teen. The pair stood there for a moment, no one else in sight as the next skater started his routine. Viktor stared up at him for a moment before taking a step towards him and leaning up to kiss him on the cheek.

“You really are the best coach.” He felt his cheeks turn a deep shade of red at the teen’s comments. The blush earned a soft giggle from the blue-eyed male before he turned and headed down the hallway. He couldn’t help but watch the teen go.


	28. Chapter 28

“You were amazing, Viktor.” The silvery haired teen laughed softly in embarrassment as Phichit congratulated him on his wonderful performance. “Two quads! That’s incredible!” The Thai man went on, patting the teen on the back.

Yuuri let a small smile find its way to his lips as he watched the Russian thank Phichit for the complements. It hadn’t taken the teen long to get changed out of his costume and meet them in the backroom where they had set up a television for the skaters to watch their fellow skaters.

“You could really see the story in your routine.” Guang-Hong mumbled softly, earning a gasp of delight before the Russian pulled the poor boy into a hug.

“Thank you, Guang-Hong.” Viktor said happily before letting the Chinese boy go and returning to his side. He opened his mouth to congratulate both Phichit and Guang-Hong on their own routines when he was cut off by a gasp of delight and a small cheerful clap from Viktor.

“It’s Chris’ turn!” The teen cheered as he watched his friend stand in the middle. Yuuri sighed, only to jolt when an elbow hit his side.

“Did you see my photo?” Phichit asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. He frowned while staring at his friend.

“Yes, I had Chris’ coach knocking on my door because of your photo.” He got a look of confusion from the Thai as Viktor and Guang-Hong let out a cheer because of one of Chris’ jumps. “Chris wasn’t in his bedroom this morning.” He explained earning a wide eye look from his best friend.

“No! They didn’t?” Yuuri snorted at his friend while gentle smacking him on his shoulder.

“Nothing like that.” He mumbled, “Chris’ coach confirmed that they are just friends. They were still dressed and on different sides of the bed.” Phichit stared at him before glancing towards the Russian in front of him who was jumping up and down with Guang-Hong in excitement as Chris finished his routine.

“It was all over the television before.” Phichit stated simply, earning a confused look from him. “Your hug.” He felt a blush raise to his cheeks and his gaze dropped to the ground.

“Oh god.” He hadn’t even thought about the media attention he would get for hugging Viktor. He had gotten so use to the teen hugging him after skating that he didn’t even stop to think someone would record it.

“It was rather cute. I hadn’t seen you smile like that before.” He felt his cheeks turn an even darker shade of red at the comment.

“Yuuri!” His head shot up to see Viktor smiling at him, “Did you see it! Chris landed a quad Lutz!” He smiled and nodded his head, despite not having seen it. It was no surprise; the jump was Chris’ signature move after all. He glanced towards Phichit when the teen turned back to the television to wait for Chris’ score.

“Kill me now.” He mumbled, earning a chuckle and the pat on the back from the Thai.

“No~” Phichit sung teasingly with a big smile. 

***

“Yuuri! Time to get up!” He groaned as he rolled over in bed and pulled the sheets over his head. He knew right away that today would be a bad day. He had no motivation to get out of bed. It wasn’t like yesterday ended badly, far from. The end results left Viktor in first place by mere 2 points. It just couldn’t find it in himself to get out of bed.

“Up! Up! Up!” He groaned from under the blankets while attempting to drone the Russian out. He had almost fallen back to sleep when he heard the all too familiar sound of his medication bottles being picked up. He shot upright in bed, his eyes widening at the scene in front of him. Viktor had gone to his back, clearly to pick some clothes out for him to wear, only to find his medication bottles. The Russian was standing there holding his medication bottles with wide eyes.

“Viktor!” He shouted while jumping out of bed and moving towards the teen to grab the bottles but the silver haired male stepped out of reach, holding the bottles away from him. He silently cursed himself for not grabbing his glasses before jumping out of bed because everything was blurry around him.

“What are these?” The teen demanded, staring at him with a hard look.

“Viktor-“ He started.

“WHAT ARE THESE?” He flinched as the teen yelled at him. He could feel the panic start to grow in his chest. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. “Yuuri!” Viktor demanded.

“Prescription medication.” He replied simply, trying to keep his breathing calm.

“For what? Is this why you are taking a season off?” Viktor question, eyeing him closely.

“Yes, no.” He said quietly before stepped away from the teen and took a seat on the edge of his bed. He stared down at his hands that were trembling; he frowned before quickly grabbed onto the sweat pants he had worn to bed.

“Yuuri! What are they for?” Viktor questioned him.

“I… I-I… I suffer from extreme anxiety and depression.” He stated, unable to control the speed of the words as they left his mouth. He got a blank look from Viktor as the Russian clearly tried to process the spill of words that had left his mouth at a million miles an hour.

“What?” The other male questioned him weakly.

“I s-suffer from ext-extreme anxiety an-and depression.” He stuttered out again, a lot slower than before. He watched as the silver haired male glanced down at the bottles in his hand, clearly reading over the labels. He dropped his gaze to his lap, waiting for the teen’s response.

He wasn’t sure how the teen would react, though he had hoped the teen would never find out. Especially in the way he did, though he probably found out in a much better way than Yuri.

“H-how long?” He glanced up to see Viktor staring at him with watery eyes.

“I was diagnosed with anxiety when I was 10, 20 when diagnosed with depression.” He stated honestly, feeling his nail start to dig into the skin of his thigh even through his pants. He waited, wondering what the teen would do with the information. He received a few nods as the teen continued to stare at the bottles in his hand before he glanced towards him again.

“Th-that day Yurio yelled at you in Hasetsu…” He gave a weak smile in response.

“I forgot to take my medication and had a panic attack in Yuuko’s office.” He admitted with a nod of his head

“Oh...” A long silence set in after that while he waited for the teen to come to terms with his illness. He took another deep breath before jolting as something was shoved in his face. He blinked before his medication bottles came into focus. He hesitantly reached up to take them from the Russian. “Take your medication and go shower.” The teen demanded while turning back his back on him as he started to go through his bag. He stared at the teen before he slowly reached over for his glasses and slipped them on.

“Viktor?” He questioned hesitantly. The teen paused going through his bag and turned towards him.

“Go shower.” The teen said, giving him a weak smile.

“I’m sorry.” He said while standing up. The teen blinked a few times at him before the smile became a little gentler.

“Yuuri, shower now or we will miss all the good breakfast.” He let out a small sigh of relief before shyly taking his medication before heading into the bathroom to shower for the day ahead of him.


	29. Chapter 29

Viktor was a bit shocked to say the least.

Anxiety and depression?

He let out a small shaky breath as he remembered the absolutely terrified look on Yuuri’s face this morning. The way the older male breathing had speed up so much, despite Yuuri’s attempts to calm it and the grip on his thighs, his knuckles had been white from gripping onto his pants so tightly, he wouldn’t be surprised if he had left puncher marks in his skin.

Anxiety, that one explained a lot.

Despite how he appeared in interviews and when he skated, he was not as collected in person.

It explained why Yuuri was always so soft spoken and often stuttered or mumbled when he spoke.

It also explained why he had been so hesitant to not only coach him but also to befriend him. The Japanese man had built a wall around himself, a rough wall that he attempted to use to make people leave him alone. He could still remember their first conversation. He had declared that Yuuri should be his coach and gotten a hard ‘no’ in response.

Depression that was the real shocker.

Sure, he had noticed that the older male wasn’t always a morning person, but he had just assumed that was part of his personality and never thought anymore about it.

But could it actually be because of his depression? Or was it his anxiety that affected that?

Viktor glanced behind him to where Yuuri was standing, eyes staring at the television where Guang-Hong was skating.

Since this morning, the Japanese man had barely looked at him. They had only shared a few words, mainly during his warm up on the ice, which had consisted of him watching his entry speed and rotation during his jumps.

Something was wrong, he could tell. After spending so much time with Yuuri he could just tell. The older male was tense and his hands were trembling whenever they left Yuuri’s pocket.

He turned back to the television to see Chris preparing to step onto the ice. He glanced back at Yuuri before to the side where a cameramen and group of reports were standing.

Viktor frowned before walking over to his coach and grabbing one of his arms and pulling him in the opposite direction of the cameramen.

What’s the place with the fewest people? He wondered while dragging Yuuri along, ignoring the other man’s gasps and mumbles of complaint at suddenly being dragged away from the television. It finally clicked where the quietest place would be and he pulled Yuuri along, giving the other man no options but to follow him.

Within minutes they were standing in the stadiums underground car park.

“Viktor, what are we doing down here? You should be warming up and we also have to keep track of the current standings.” He watched the older man closely.

“Yuuri.” He said softly, causing the older man to flinch and his breathing to speed up. “Oh, Yuuri.” He mumbled while moving towards the other man to wrapping his arms around the other man waist.

“No,” Viktor gasped as Yuuri pulled away from him, walking a few steps away from him. “Don’t Viktor.”

“Why?” He demanded with a frown. “What’s wrong, Yuuri?”

“Nothing!” Yuuri shouted before raising both hands to his head and running them through his hair a few times, “Everything!”

“Hey now,” He said carefully while watching Yuuri’s breathing start to speed up. “Deep breaths.” Viktor mumbled while taking a step towards the older man. The dark-haired man shook his head and took a step back in response.

“I-I-I can’t do this.” He heard the other man mumble, causing him to freeze.

“Can’t do what?” He questioned, try to hold back his own sudden panic. Yuuri couldn’t leave him now. Everything was just starting to work out. He felt he was jumping better than ever and the routines Yuuri had created for him where unlike anything else he had skated.

“Everything.” He felt his body unfreeze at the sob that escaped Yuuri. “I can’t do it anymore. Everyone is expecting so much from me and I just can’t. It’s all too much. I can’t deal with the attention, the pressure.” Another sob escaped the man in front of him. He took a step forwards as tears started rolling down the older man’s cheeks. “I thought coaching would be easier. But the attention is still so much. I-I-I keep getting asked about next season and I just don’t know. And then there is you.”

“What about me?” He asked hesitantly.

“You are so perfect, Viktor.” Yuuri sobbed, “And the more time I spend time with you, the more I know that you will be the death of me. You are just so pure and I’m not. I-I can’t let myself given in because you deserve better.” His eyes widened as the dark-haired males’ legs gave out under him, causing him to dive forward to catch him.

“I’m going to fail you, Viktor.” He hushed the older man while hugging him tightly, “You are going to fail and blame me. You’ll leave like everyone else. And I’ll let you, because I don’t deserve you.”

Viktor closed his eyes as he hugged the sobbing man in his arms tightly. “Don’t be stupid, I’m not going anywhere.”


	30. Chapter 30

Viktor entered into the main area with Yuuri at his side and he couldn’t help the small sigh that left him.

It had taken a little while to calm Yuuri down and promise him that no, he wasn’t going anywhere because he needed the Japanese man.

“You make me better, Yuuri.” He felt a light blush rise to his cheeks as he remembered saying that in the car park. He turned around to face Yuuri, who gave him a small smile. Despite having a complete breakdown a few minutes ago, the other man looked perfect in his opinion. Sure, his eyes were a little red and the smile was a little smile but he didn’t care. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to his coach before slipping off his blade protectors and stepping onto the ice. He felt all the tense from the day start to bleed off him as he turned towards Yuuri.

“Yuuri,” He whined, causing the older man to blink in surprise.

“Yes?” He waved the older man over, getting a confused look but the dark-haired male did move closer. When the Japanese man was within reach, he wrapped his arms around the man’s neck and pulled him into a tight hug.

“I promise I’m not going anywhere. It doesn’t matter if I fail, or win, I’m not going anywhere.” He mumbled into the other man’s ear before pulling away with a bright smile. Before he could skate off, he felt Yuuri grab his arm and spin him around. Before he could question what was going on, he felt the other man’s hands in his hair. He remained still and let Yuuri fix his hair. He had probably messed it up earlier when comforting the dark-haired male fixing his hair.

“Davai.” Yuuri mumbled before his hands disappeared from his hair.

He blinked and turned back to the other man with a bright smile before he moved towards the centre of the rink.

He took his position and waited for the music to start. He thought for a moment about doing the complete routine, with all four quads, but he knew he wouldn’t land them all.

He didn’t have the stamina to do that just yet, but what he could do is turn that starting quad toe loop at the start into a quad Lutz and drop the middle quad Salchow into a triple so he could land the quad toe loop, triple toe loop jump combination at the end.

He felt the music start and his body start to move to the tune of the music. He barely registered the first jump until he landed it, a quadruple Lutz, he could hear the surprise in the announcer’s voice at the change in his first jump.

He couldn’t understand why people were so surprised at him being able to land a quadruple Lutz, he had trained with Chris before after all and whatever the Swiss could do on the ice he could do too. He continued the routine, reminding himself that he had to keep in character.

He was a prince, begging his princess to stay with him. To stay close to him. Yes, that was what he was doing. He was begging Yuuri to stay close, to stay with him.

He had to bite down the smile that threatened to spread across his face as he easily landed his favourite jump, the quadruple flip.

The next little bit was a blur, his body moving completely as his own. Before he knew it, he was jumping into the sit spin. He raised his hand into the air as he span, ignoring the voice in his head.

He remembered Yuuri scolded him when he had first performed the flying sit spin with a raised hand like he had been showed. Yuuri had scolded him saying that he shouldn’t focus so much on raising his hand, he should be more focused on maintaining the spin than getting added performance points. But he couldn’t help himself, this was his plead to get Yuri to stay with him.

For the Japanese man to stop hiding and trying to run away. As he moved towards the next jump, which originally meant to be the quadruple Salchow, he really felt how tired he was already. He got into position and threw himself into the air, performing the triple Salchow, only to touch the ice due to over rotation. He kept his straight face, reminding himself that it wasn’t the end of the world and he still had the triple-triple jump combination, the triple axel, the triple flip and the big quad-triple at the very end, not to mention that hardest step sequence between all those jumps and a spin combination to finished it all off, and he already felt exhausted.

He took a deep breath and let the music take him over as he moved through the routine. Easily landing the triple-triple jump combination.

He knew the moment he launched into the air of the triple axel that he had entered the jump too fast and touched the ice again to keep himself balance. Not that end of the world, he reminded himself.

He had already landing two separate quads with one more to come. The triple flip felt as easy as the quadruple one he had done earlier in the routine but he was at his peak with one more jump combination to go. He closed his eyes as he moved into his last jump, remembering the way Yuuri had shown it to him.

He threw himself into the air and span, somehow landing the quadruple toe loop only to fall to the ground at the triple toe loop that followed. He hurried back to his feet to finish the routine, reminding himself that despite the two touchdowns and the one fall, he had successful managed to land three quads. He stepped into the spin combination as the song drew to an end.

He stood there panting for breath as the song finished. He had done it. He performed his routine with three different quads. He glanced towards Yuuri to see the man hurrying towards the rink exit. He felt a smile pulled to his face as he quickly sped towards the exit himself. He had to have made Yuuri proud, because he couldn’t risk not. He needed Yuuri to stay with him.

“Viktor!” Yuuri shouted as he stopped at the entryway. He couldn’t help but giggle as he threw himself into the older man’s waiting arms. Unlike all the other times before this, he wrapped his arms around the Japanese man’s neck and kissed him, right there in front of everyone.

“I did great, right?” He asked while pulling away, earning him a gentle smile from the dark-haired male under him.

“Brilliantly.” He was ensured before being pulled into a tight hug he couldn’t help returning.

It didn’t matter that Yuuri was a little sick, because Yuuri was there with him, right where he should be.


	31. Chapter 31

Yuuri hid a yawn as he entered the hotel after giving Phichit a call. He knew that the Thai skater was a bit panicky at the moment due to the suspense he was feeling. Despite ranking first in the China cup, just before Viktor who scored second, the Thai skater still had to wait for the results of the Rostelecom Cup to find out if he made it to the finals or not. He took a sip of the coffee he had picked up while on the phone before freezing at the group of interviews standing in the hotel lobby.

He had barely left out a breath before they were surrounding him, shooting questions at him from every direction. He gave a nervous smile while stumbling a few steps backwards, only to be followed by the reporters.

“S-sorry, n-no questions.” He said, waving his free hand about to try and deter the group. He let out a gasp as one of the reporters knocked the coffee at of his hand, he watched it with wide eyes as it hit the floor and spilt everywhere.

“Leave the damn man alone,” A growl said from behind him, “He said no questions.” He yelped as said person grabbed him by the back of his jacket before dragging him away from the lobby and towards the elevators.

“Geez, who left you unsupervised.” He shook off the person holding him and span around to come face to face than none other than Yuri Plisetsky.

“Oh, Yurio.” He mumbled, “Thank you.” He said with a small bow. The blonde snorted in response as the elevator in front of them opened up and they entered. He glanced over his shoulder at a loud shout, only to see a group of other skaters arguing in front of another open elevator. He entered the elevator with Yuri and pushed his floor number as the doors closed. Things were quiet between them as they were slowly taken to their floors.

“Um…” He started before pausing; he glanced towards the blonde only to see a pair of green eyes staring at him, “Viktor found out.” He admitted while dropping his gaze to the ground.

“And?” He continued to stare at the ground, wondering how he explained that he basically had a breakdown right in front of the teen right before his free skate in China. “I’m guessing the brat is fine with it than.” He gave a small shrug in response.

“I think so.” He jumped in response when he was kicked in the back. “Hey!” He shouted, turning to his long-time rival with an annoyed look.

“You are still coaching the brat; therefore, the kid is fine with it. Don’t overthink it.” He stared at Yuri for a moment before slowly nodding his head.

“Okay… thanks…” He mumbled while nodding his head.

“I’m guessing it happened in China.” Yuri said while pulling the hood of his Russian hoodie down and shaking out his long hair that hung loose today. Though it wasn’t as long as Viktor’s, he was a little jealous at not only the length of Yuri’s hair but also at how pretty it was, a gorgeous golden blonde colour. Despite the jealous that flared up in him, he also silently admitted that he much rather Viktor’s gorgeous silver hair over Yuri’s golden blonde. He glanced towards the top of the doors to see them rise past floor number six.

“Yeah. He found out during the morning of the free skate.” He explained, earning him a snort in response.

“No wonder the teen screwed up so many of his jumps.” He heard the Russian beside him mumble as the elevator slowly came to a stop on his floor.

“Good luck tomorrow.” He said, giving Yuri a gentle smile, which was returned with a small wave of thanks.

“Yeah, yeah. Tell the brat I’ll crush him like I did last time he was in Russia.” He couldn’t help the small chuckle that left him as the doors opened in front of him.

“Shouldn’t you be more focused on the Canadian teen that kicked your butt in Canada?” He asked, earning a venous look in response as he exited the elevator. “How’s your grandfather by the way? Have you seen him yet?” He asked, holding the doors open which clearly annoyed the blonde.

“The old geezer is still kicking.” He smiled before stepping back and waving at his long-time friend as the doors finally started to close.

“Say hi from me next time you see him. See you tomorrow.” He got a grunt in response before the doors finally closed. He couldn’t help the small smile that found its way to his face as he moved towards Viktor and his room. He slipped the key card into the door and let himself.

Despite everything that had happened in China, things hadn’t changed that much.

He had sat the Russian down when they had returned to Japan and explained everything properly. How his medication worked. Common signs of panic attacks and breakdowns. He even admitted how he was diagnosed with depression, which had resulted with a sobbing teen buried into his chest for a good half an hour.

After the sit down, Viktor didn’t change too much. The teen was still the over flirtatious, space-invading person that he always been. But he also became a little gentler with him he noticed, especially in the morning.

The teen always woke him up now, dragging him out of bed no matter what type of day it was and making sure he had his medication.

The teen seemed to gauge what type of day he was having and acted accordingly. If it meant going to the skating rink by himself, the teen would as long as he promised to make an appearance before lunch. So, he’d lay around with Makkachin until the guilt got to him and he found himself heading to the rink to make sure the teen hadn’t broken anything while being unsupervised, which hadn’t happened yet, thank god.

“Yuuri!” He was knocked out of his thoughts by Viktor calling out his name and turned to see the very person he was thinking off curled up in the large bed in the centre of the room wearing one of his shirts. He blinked confused as the teen waved him over while holding up his phone to show a picture of Chris kissing a gold metal he had picked up in France.

“Chris is still gloating about already making it into the finals.” The teen huffed with a pout on his lips. He chuckled as he shrugged off his coat and shoes before sitting on the end of the bed.

“Phichit is the opposite, he’s sitting around whining about how he wants the Rostelecom Cup to be over so he can know if he made it to the finals or not.” He explained, only to gasp as two pairs of arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down. He blinked in confusion as his head ended up in the younger males’ lap, who smiled down at him brightly. Before he could comment, his glasses were taken off him and hands found their way into his hair. He let out a small hum of approval as they stayed like that for the moment.

“Poor Phichit.” Viktor mumbled, “But he probably deserves it for all the torture he puts people through on instagram.” He couldn’t help but chuckle at the teens comment before slowly nodding his head as he stared up at the beautiful male above him.

“He probably does.” He agreed while raising a hand to push a strand of silvery hair behind Viktor’s ear, which earned him a bright smile in response. “God, you are beautiful.” He thought to himself, or so he thought. His eyes widened as the teen gave a giggle before leaning down to kiss him on the lips.

“No, that’s you.” Well damn, maybe he had said it and no thought it.


	32. Chapter 32

“Did you all hear that? Emil landed a quadruple loop, too. Applause.” Yuuri couldn’t help but stare blankly at the Canadian skater who was making such a fuss about the Czech skater. Even he knew that Emil Nekola was starting to be recognised for his incredible jumping ability. Viktor perked up, having finally noticed someone was talking and removed his earphones.

“Huh? Did you say something, undercut?” The Russian teen asked with a tilt of his head. There was a snicker from beside them from the other Russian who was competing with them.

“Yuuri did the same jump in his free skate last year. I want to see that again!” He stared at the teen while taking a small step away from the Canadian who had stepped into his personal space.

“I don’t recall.” He stated simply, wondering how he was ignoring the two glaring Russian’s behind him.

“Aww!” The Canadian whined before he was shoved to the side.

“Why don’t you go bug your own coach instead of mine.” Viktor said while stepping in front of him. He placed a hand on the silvery haired males shoulder to calm him.

“Relax, Viktor.” He said calmly, “Mister Leroy is still upset that I decided to take a season off. I just didn’t want to embarrass the boy.” The room went completely silent for a moment as Jean-Jacques stared at him in shock while the two Russian skaters around him snickered.

“Land a quad loop as many times as you would like, Mister Leroy, but don’t think we are on the same level until you can land it in the second half of your routine.” He stated while gently pushing Viktor towards the doors as it was announced that group twos warm up period was about to start. The Russian turned to him with a giggle once the Canadian was out of sight.

“That was incredible! You were so awesome!” He raised his free hand to his chest with a small smile on his face.

“Thanks.” He said, though he could feel his chest beating a million miles an hour under his hand.

But the time he had finally calmed himself down, Viktor was standing in front of him about to step out onto the ice for his turn. He gave the teen a once over before bending down and pulling on the laces of Viktor’s right skate. He let out a sigh as it completely came undone by the simple tug. He glanced up at the teen that was smiling at him sheepishly as he quickly got to work tying the lace up properly.

“What do you think about turning the quad Salchow, triple toe loop into a quad Lutz, triple toe loop?” He heard Viktor ask, causing his head to snap up at the teen in shock.

“Why?” He questioned in confusion as he saw the teen glare off to the side.

“Because that Canadian is real pissing me off.” He followed the teen’s gaze to see him glaring at said male.

“Do it.” He glanced behind him to see Yuri standing there, also glaring at the Canadian.

“Yurio,” He groaned at the blonde Russian as Viktor pulled away from him to move onto the ice, “We haven’t even practiced any Lutz’s in a combination.”

“Doesn’t matter, I’m doing it.” He grabbed the teen before he could move to the centre to start his performance.

“It’s near the end of your routine.” He pointed out with a frown. Viktor stared at him for a moment before smiling ever so softly and raising his arms. He let the arms wrap around his neck and pull him into a hug.

“I’ll be fine. I do have the best coach after all.” He blushed as the silvery haired Russian pulled away and winked before moving to the centre of the ice.

“We are going to show that asshole JJ why you shouldn’t mess with Russians.” Yuri said with a smirk while crossing his arms across his chest. He sighed and shook his head as the music begun.

Russian’s were handfuls, he decided. 

***

“ONE WHOLE POINT!” Viktor shouted while stamping his foot on the ground in irritation before he could calm the teen, the silvery haired Russian started to rant in his native tongue while pacing up and down. The teen would have been in first place too but had turned the quad Lutz, triple toe loop into a quad Lutz, double toe loop which lost him roughly two points.

He let out a sigh before jolting as his phone rang in his pocket. He frowned while pulling it out to see his sister’s name flashing across the screen.

“Moshi moshi.” He greeted in Japanese while answering the phone, causing the ranting teen to pause and glance towards him. He gave a small smile while turning away from the teen.

“Oh, Yuri. Sorry to bother you during an event but Makkachin stole some buns, and they got stuck in his throat. We’re at the vet right now, but we’re not sure he’ll make it. Sorry, what do you want us to do?” He stood there froze. All he could suddenly think about was Vicchan and how he never truly got to say goodbye to his little companion. He turned back to the teen that was frowning at him in confusion.

“Viktor,” He said gently as he removed the phone from his ear, knowing that Mari wouldn’t mind waiting for him to tell the Russian teen. “It’s Makkachin.” He watched as the teen in front of him seemed to stop breathing at the mention of his dog.

“Wha-what’s wrong with Makkachin?” Viktor mumbled weakly, moving closer to him. He wrapped an arm around the teen with a sad smile.

“He’s at the vets. He got into some pork buns and they got stuck in his throat.” The blue-eyed male in front of him gasped before covering his mouth as his eyes started to water.

“They aren’t sure if-“ Viktor shook his head quickly, cutting him off.

“Go back to Japan right now.” He felt his eyes widen at the teens statement.

“What? Me?” He questioned, earning a nod from the teen.

“I’ll face the free skate tomorrow on my own!” Viktor stated, pulling away from him with a determined look.

“What, no! I can’t do that to you.” He said with a frown.

“But you have to go back in my place.” Viktor tried to reason.

“Like I said, I can’t.” He told the teen with a frown. He frowned down at the teen that was looking up at him.

“Please, for Makkachin.” He frowned while running a hand through his hair in frustration. He couldn’t just leave Viktor without a coach, especially during the free skate.

“What’s going on with them?” He heard someone ask to the side, catching his attention. He glanced to the side to see Yuri, Yakov and another woman who he assumed was choreographing Yuri’s free skate. He glanced back at Viktor again before sighing in defeat and walking towards the legendary Russian coach.

“Yakov, I need a favour.” He asked, earning a surprised look from the older man.

“Huh?” The old man questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Can you be Viktor’s coach tomorrow, for just one day?” He begged, earning him a number of questionable looks from everyone around them.


	33. Chapter 33

Viktor was annoyed to say the least.

Yes, he had wanted Yuuri to go to Japan in his place to look after Makkachin, but that didn’t mean he wanted Yuuri to find him a replacement coach.

He was even more annoyed that Yuuri had asked Yakov and that the old bag had said no. He could still remember the look on Yuuri’s face at the older man’s response before Yuri had stepped in. Saying he knew someone who could step in as he coach for tomorrow. He hadn’t expected said person to be Kazakhstan’s dark horse, Otabek Altin.

The 24-year-old had already made it into the finals and had come here to support Yuri. He hadn’t even been aware that the pair were friends.

Yuuri had seemed relieved when he found out it was Otabek, thanking the expressionless man for agreeing to be his coach such last minute.

He took a deep breath while glancing out over the ice where Yuri was skating and killing it. He had never thought that he was see such an elegant performance from the blonde, especially still capturing the high-speed skating Yuri was well known to skate at. He let out a deep breath as he glanced towards the roof, remembering what Yuuri had told him when he was leaving for the airport.

_“Drop a quad and keep calm. You’ll do fine, you always do.”_

He didn’t understand why he had to drop a quad. He always did fine, he subconsciously turned to the side to ask Yuuri about a jumping idea he had just thought of, only to find himself staring at an empty spot. He blinked a few times before frowning, how had he gotten so use to Yuuri being there in just one season.

I suppose that saying is truly, you never truly know what you have until it is gone.

But Yuuri wasn’t gone, he was just on his way to Japan to make sure Makkachin was okay.

He had told Makkachin to stay away from the buns when they were leaving for Russia. He had expected Makkachin to listen to him; the poodle was normally good like that. He felt a cold shiver run through him.

What if Makkachin didn’t make it? There would be no more cuddles, no more runs along the beach, no more walks for the simple joy of walking with Makkachin.

“Viktor,” His headshot up to see Otabek standing there, eyeing him closely. It took everything he could muster to not show the Kazakhstan man just how disappointed he was that he wasn’t Yuuri. “Stop overthinking. This is what happened last year.” He stared at his substitute coach with wide eyes, wondering what he meant.

“What?” He questioned, a little panicky.

“You over think. Put too much pressure on yourself and fail to perform. It was noticeable last year.” Otabek stated simply while turning his gaze back to Yuri on the ice. He followed the man’s gaze as Yuri finished his routine smoothly without a single mistake. He swallowed whine shrugging off his jacket as the other Russian skater moved off the ice and towards the kiss and cry.

“Viktor.” He glanced towards Otabek curiously. “Just remember that Yuuri will be watching, even if he isn’t here.” He stared at the tanned male for a moment before nodding and stepping onto the ice.

That’s right; Yuuri would be watching and probably worrying about him. He let out a sigh as he got in position and waiting for the music to start.

*** 

Yuuri frowned at the laptop screen in front of him as it showed Viktor shaking onto the ice. He could tell right away that the teen was stressed; he just hoped he was able to shake it off. He lifted a hand to pat Makkachin on the head, who was lying next to him on the bed. He had gotten back to Japan a couple of hours ago and hurried right to the vets. Thankfully the poodle had made it through the night and as long as the large dog didn’t show any signs of breathing problems in the next 24 hours, it would be safe to say that the poodle had made it through the ordeal.

“Come on, Viktor.” He mumbled softly as the music started, but the tension didn’t fade like it normally did. The first jump proved that when the teen touched down, having over rotated the jump.

“The hips, I always tell him to watch his hips.” He told the drowsy dog beside him. Despite the touch down, the teen started lose himself in the music, his steps and turns becoming smoother and the next jump was perfect, which was no surprised seeing as it was the quadruple flip.

He felt his breath catch as the silvery haired teen moved into the jump spin, despite how insisted he was on raising his hands for the performance points, he didn’t do it this time, clearly struggling a little with keeping his balance.

And then came the triple Salchow, something the teen had nailed easily, but as Viktor moved into the jump he knew. The Russian hit the ground hard but was back on his feet quickly and moving towards the triple-triple combination, which the teen landed easily and then straight into the triple axel. He cheered as the teen landed that one followed by the triple flip that followed it, leaving the last jump combination. He held his breath as the teen jumped into the air, landing the quad toe loop but popping the triple toe loop that followed.

He ran his hands through Makkachin’s fur as Viktor stepped into the finishing spin combination as the song drew to a close, ending his routine. He smiled softly as he watched the teen crumble to the ground, probably sobbing. The teen was so emotional after his routines.

There was a cut to an interview with Yuri and when it finally turned back to the teen, he was seated in the kiss and cry beside Otabek.

He should have been there but he was thankful that Otabek had been willing to step in for him, especially in such short notice.

He turned back to Makkachin, who gave a weak tail wag when their eyes meet.

“Yeah, he’ll be home soon.” He promised the poodle while shutting down his laptop before they released the score. It didn’t matter if Viktor made it or not, he’ll be waiting at the airport for the teens return and they would celebrate with katsudon even if the teen didn’t make it into the finals.


	34. Chapter 34

“What the hell was that?” Viktor yelped in surprise as the back of his shirt was grabbed and he was span around to face Yuri. The blonde skater still had the gold metal he had just won wrapped around his neck. “I give you a good coach and you screw up?”

“Yura.” Otabek said from beside them before somehow releasing him from the blonde’s gasp.

Viktor fixed his jacket while glancing towards the two senior skaters in front of him. Otabek had insisted on taking him back to the hotel, so after the rankings were announced and Yuri had been given the gold metal he had been able to scrape by a mere two and a half points from JJ, they had started to head back while the media storm was focused on the medallists.

He was still a little shocked that he had made it to the finals, but he was also sort of relieved. Yuuri could be his coach a little longer it seemed.

He watched the pair in front of him, noticing his Otabek eyes never strayed from the blonde Russian who was happily gloating about his victory over the arrogant Canadian to notice.

The Kazakhstan skater had this weird look on his face that he couldn’t quite name. He swore he had seen it before. He brought a hand to his chin as he thought about it before it clicked. He let out a loud gasp, causing the pair to look at him in a panic.

“What?” Yuri snapped with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh my god, you like him!” He said while staring at Otabek. The tanned male stared back at him, as emotionless as he normally was.

“What?” Yuri said turning to the non-Russian before slapping the man’s chest, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It must have slipped my mind.” Otabek replied simply with a shrug.

Viktor blinked a few times in confusion, he had been expected a bit more blushing or a more pissed of blonde Russian.

“How could you forget to tell your boyfriend you like him?” His eyes widened at Yuri’s statement before his jaw dropped.

“Boyfriend?” He said, or maybe it was a shouted by the way Yuri flinched.

“Yes. I do believe that is what you call someone you are romantically involved with them.” He stared at the Kazakhstan skater with a look of disbelieve before turning his gaze to Yuri who was staring at Otabek with same expression of love-struck that Otabek had on his face.

“How have I never noticed?” He said, covering his mouth before quickly pulling out his phone. He had barely unlocked his phone when it was plucked from his hands.

“No.” Yuri growled immediately.

“What?” He questioned with a pout.

“No one else is to find out, understood?” He frowned while glaring at the fellow Russian.

“I wasn’t going to do anything.” He gasped while faking a look of hurt. Earning a blank look from the pair in front of him. The blank look on Yuri’s face didn’t last long, because it was quickly replaced by a smirk as the blonde pulled out his own phone. He stood there confused as the blonde tapped away on it for a moment before spinning it around.

He felt his eyes widen at the photo he was looking at.

“If one words finds its way onto social media, so does this. Got it, shithead?” He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times but no words came out.

“Yura.” Otabek said with a sigh, taking both his kidnapped phone and the Yuri’s phone from the blonde and holding them out of reach due to being the tallest of the three of them, though Yuri was only slightly shorted than him. “Don’t torment him.” Yuri sneered in response.

“How did you get that photo? When did you get that photo?” He demanded, grabbing the blonde’s arm and turning him around so they were face to face. His fellow Russian smirked at him before reaching up to ruffle his hair, he pouted in response.

With Yuuri not there to do his hair for him, it had taken him almost three times as long as normal to do it, and in the end Sara Crispino had stepped in to help.

The Italian female figure skater had been floating around the back, praising (or in some cases, insulting) the skaters for their short skate the day before she had spotted him struggling and had offered to help.

“The morning of Katsudon’s little incident.” He felt his eyes widen at the statement; that had been the night after he had crashed in Yuuri’s room. Yuuri had insisted he take the bed as the guest, so how did Yuri have a photo of them curled up together in Yuri’s bed? He blushed and folded his arms across his chest, earning a snicker from the blonde Russian. He blinked as something was shoved in his face and a smile appeared when he noticed it was Otabek handing him his phone back.

“Enough threatening each other. Yura, you have some interviews to do. Viktor, come along. Let’s get you back to the hotel and get some food into you.” Otabek said pushing the two Russian’s in different directions. He opened his mouth to complain, only to freeze as he saw Yuri lean up to kiss the Kazakhstan figure skater. He made a choking noise while turning his back on the pair.

“I had to watch you kiss Katsudon on live television, leave us alone.” Yura growled before he was cut off. He made a gagging sound as he heard the pair behind him share a couple more kisses before Otabek moved in front of him and lead the way towards the exit. He hurried to follower the older skater.

“So, how long have you two been dating?” He asked curiously while glancing up at the tan male.

“Almost five years.” He blinked in surprise before glancing behind them to see Yuri standing there, watching them go. He sent a small wave before turning back to his substitute coach.

“You two look good together.” He stated simple while pulling his phone out of his pocket to see a number of messages from Chris, congratulating him on (barely) making it to the finals.

“Thanks.” Was the soft response he got in response as they headed back to the hotel.


	35. Chapter 35

Viktor let out a breath as he stepped off the plane.

Despite having flown between Russian and Japan multiple times now, he still hated the ten-hour flight.

He pushed a strand of hair behind his ear that had escaped the messy bun he had put his hair up into before he boarded the flight back home.

After a rather restful sleep after qualifying for the Grand Prix finals, Yuri and Otabek had taken him to the airport the next day.

Despite having known Yuri for years, it was almost like he was a different person around Otabek. The Kazakhstani almost seemed to make the blonde melt, which was rather impressive seeing as Yuri was often called ‘The Ice Tiger of Russia’, when he wasn’t being called a ‘Russian Fairy’ by his fan club.

He had half expected the pair to be all over each other, despite being together for years they didn’t spend much time together due to their busy lifestyles, but all he had to deal with was a little bit of handholding.

He knew how hard it was to keep on top of everything as a professional figure skater. Between Nationals, the Grand Prix and Worlds, when did figure skaters have time off?

When did a Russian and a Kazakhstani have time to go on dates and stuff?

He jolted as a Japanese official asked for his passport, causing him to flush in embarrassment as he dug his passport out and handed it over. He stood there silently as he was processed into the country before being properly let in.

Even with a ten-hour flight to think about what he could say to Yuuri, he still couldn’t think of anything.

What did he want to say?

I like you. Too obvious and plain.

I never want to be separated from you again. Maybe a bit too extreme.

I missed you. Honest and simple, but did he want to go simple?

He let out another sigh as he moved towards baggage claim. He needed to just get his bags and figure out who was here to pick him up.

He heard an all too familiar bark, causing his head to shot up and gasp at the dog on the other side of the glass wall.

“Makkachin.” He mumbled softly, feeling his eyes started to water at the sight of his dog. He couldn’t help but turn and run down the hallway towards the exit that would reunite him with his dog. As soon as he was through the doors, he fell to his knees and had his arms filled by the large poodle. Sobs left him as he hugged the dog tightly.

“Don’t ever do that to me again, Makka.” He cried into the dog’s coat. After a couple of minutes, he pulled away and wiped a few stray tears away as he patted the dog on the head.

“Good boy.” He mumbled before slowly getting to his feet. He glanced around, looking for one person in particular. It only took a moment to spot said person, sitting down on an empty bench smiling at him softly.

He stood there staring for only a moment before running towards the man who stood up and opened his arms wide. He charged right into the man’s arms, wrapping his own arms around Yuuri while burying his head into the Japanese man’s chest, not caring that the pair almost fell straight over the bench.

They just stood there for a moment, wrap up in each other’s arms. He took a deep, breathing in Yuuri’s unique smell, the smell of ice and herbal musk that reminded him of the tea that Yuuri was always drinking.

“Be my coach until I retire.” He mumbled into Yuuri’s chest, being unable to drag himself away from the man.

“Huh?” He heard Yuuri question, causing him to sigh and pull away enough to make eye contact with the other man.

“Be my coach until I retire.” He repeated, staring into the hazel brown he had come to love.

“Yes.” Yuuri said while smiling at him gently. He couldn’t help but let out a giggle escape him before he leant up and kissed the Japanese man right there, in the middle of the airport. They had already kissed on life television, what difference did it make.

“This may be selfish of me, but I hope you never retire.” He heard Yuuri mumble as they broke apart. He couldn’t help the bright smile that washed over him as he leant against the Japanese man.

“Let’s win gold together at the Grand Prix Finals.” He said before he was pulled back into another kiss.


	36. Chapter 36

Viktor let out a small sigh of contentment as he floated across the surface of the hotel pool.

They had arrived in Barcelona, Spain, for the Grand Prix Figure Skating Final, earlier that day. Early enough to sleep off some of the jetlag before sneaking up to the hotel pool when his coach was busy on the phone.

He ran a hand through his wet hair, pushing it out of his eyes as he heard a soft click of glass hitting glass. He glanced up and smiled at the person walking towards him.

“I thought, other than me, only a Russian would be stupid enough to get in the pool at this time of year. I guess I was right.” Christophe Giacometti stated while pausing at the edge of pool, standing there in a dressing gown with a bottle of sparkling apple juice and a glass. “And here I was hoping to go skinny dipping.” His best friend whined with a pout, causing him to giggle in response.

“Don’t let me stop you.” He responded with a wink, “I’ll even take photos for you.” The two teenage figure skaters stood there looking at each other before bursting into giggles.

“Oh, I’m so glad you made it to the finals.” Chris said while stripping his dressing gown off and joining him into the pool.

“Me too.” Viktor sighed as he felt Chris wrap an arm around his neck, swimming next to him.

“How’s the pooch? All better now?” Chris cooed while nuzzling his cheek. He smiled and nodded his head.

“Yeah, all better, thankfully.” He sighed in relief before taking a deep breath and diving under the water, escaping from Chris’ gasp before resurfacing by the edge of the pool. He let out a small groan as his hair fell into his face again, earning a chuckle from his friend.

“I’ve always been jealous of your hair. I’ve never been able to grow it out like that.” He smiled at the dreamy sigh he got from the dual-coloured male across from him. He tugged on a strand of his hair before turning back to his friend.

“It’s really hard to maintain.” He chuckled before pulling himself out of the pool and grabbing his towel and phone. After drying himself off a little, he turned his phone towards his friend while kicking his feet in the pool still.

“So, Mister Giacometti, what type of photos are we after today?” He questioned, earning him a flirtatious look.

“Oh, I have a couple of ideas.” The pair shared another giggle.

The next hour or so turned into a photofest between the pair. Taking photos of each other in whatever ridiculous position that could get themselves into before spending ten minutes picking photos to share on Instagram.

“I hope I don’t make Noah jealous.” He comments as Chris posted a photo of them, cheek to cheek in the centre of the pool.

“Noah knows he’s the only one in my heart, my love.” His friend ensured him with a smirk before wrapping an arm around his waist. “But I didn’t mention my body.” He snorted while shoving his friend away.

“You are hopeless.” He laughed before reaching over to steal the young males drink. Despite the drink not being alcoholic, stupid Chris for being underage, the sparkling juice was still nice and sort of reminded him of champagne, just without the alcohol aftertaste.

“How are things with Mister Living-Legend?” Chris asked while still tapping away on his phone.

“He finally kissed me.” He mumbled while staring at the small amount of liquid left in the glass he was holding.

“Oh,” Chris perked up, glancing away from his phone. “Do tell.” He rolled his eyes while handing the glass back. The underage male finished off the last of the drink before topping it up once again.

“I asked him to be my coach until I retire and he kissed me.” He sighed softly, still remembering the kiss he had been dragged into when he had announced that he would win gold.

“I take it that meant yes?” Chris asked with a raised eyebrow. He grinned and nodded his head.

“Yes,” He sighed happily before grabbing his end of his damp ponytail. He gave it a small tug before turning to Chris.

“Chris, my wonderful, gorgeous best friend,” The Swiss male blinked and raised an eyebrow at him, “I need you to do me a massive favour.”

***

“Why, Phichit-kun, are we out so late?” Yuuri whined as he followed after his best friend, who currently had his selfie stick out.

“Because I need a photo in front of the Sagrada Família at night with my best friend.” He let out a groan at his friend response, “And why are we back to ‘kun’?”

“Sorry, sorry.” He apologised while hurrying to catch up to his friend. “But why do you need me?”

“Because I have had hardly any photos with you this year. Your fans are starving for some photos of you.” He raised an eyebrow at the Thai male in front of him who grinned and sent him a wink.

“We are almost there; you can already see it.” He glanced in front of them to see the church. Despite having been to Carcelona a few times now, he had to admit he hadn’t seen the church at night.

“It’s gorgeous.” He mumbled before gasping as Phichit grabbed his arm and span around. He barely had time to smile before the camera went off a dozen times with no warning.

“Perfect, Yuuri~” Phichit said while browsing through the photos before nodding his head and leading the way onwards. “Off we go.” He stood there in complete confusion at what had just happened. Despite having been friends with Phichit for years, he still didn’t understand the tanned male’s obsession with photos.

“How’s Viktor?” He heard his friend asked while pausing a couple meters in front of him and tilting his head to the side. “He seemed off during his free skate in Russia.”

“I had to rush back to Japan.” He explained while hurrying to catch up to the Thai male, something he always seemed to be doing.

“I noticed that. Otabek was sitting in as coach. Everything alright?” He nodded his head while burying his hands into his pocket.

“Yeah, small emergency.” He stated simply.

“With Viktor’s gorgeous pooch?” Phichit questioned with an all-knowing smile.

He stared at his friend in confusion, wondering how his friend knew which earnt him a laugh from the other male.

“He posted all these photos of the pooch on his instagram a couple of days after the Rostelecom Cup.” Phichit told him with a laugh. “Even a couple of you and the poodle. How have you not seen it?” He leant over the Thai males shoulder as he brought up Viktor’s instagram and scrolled down until he found whatever photo he was looking for. He let out a small ‘ah’ when he saw the photo. It was Makkachin and him lying on the ground in the dining hall back at home, relaxing while Viktor had soaked in the hot spring after a hard day of training, which made him question when the photo had been taken.

“How are things with the Russian heart-throb?” He let out a small sigh, watching how his breath became visible as he exhaled.

“Why is he the heart-throb?” He questioned.

“Because he captures the attention of anyone that meets him.” Phichit stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“I guess.” He mumbled with a shrug.

“Say the person who has locked lips with him on live television.” The Thai man replied with a roll of his eyes before pulling him close so they could take a selfie together. He felt his cheeks heat up at the comment while giving a shy smile towards the camera. He supposed that Viktor was a little bit of a heart-throb.

But Viktor was his heart-throb.


	37. Chapter 37

Yuuri gasped at the sight in front of him, eyes blown wide in shock.

“You’re back!” Viktor stated happily from the bed while lying his phone down in his lap. He just stared at the teen in shock. It had barely been three hours since the pair had separated and the change was mind-blowing.

“So,” The teen mumbled, dragging out the vowel, “What do you think?”

“Your hair,” He finally managed to gasp, “It’s gone.” The Russian chuckled softly while lifting a hand to his now short hair.

“Yeah, it’s gone.” He watched the teen closely before shrugging off his coat. He kicked off his shoes and got changed into his pyjamas before joining Viktor on the bed. The moment he was within reach, the teen was tugging him closer.

“It suits you.” He commented now that the shock had faded enough.

The teens previously long hair, that used to reach half way down the Russian’s back was now gone. Viktor hair was now cut short at the back, though remained long at the top, the teen had even given himself a bang that continuously fell in front of his left eye.

“Do you really like it?” He heard the silvery haired male ask as he wrapped an arm around the younger male.

“You look very handsome.” He ensured the teen while lifting his free hand to brush the bangs away from the younger male’s eyes. “Gorgeous even.” He said with a nod which earned him a lovely shade of red upon the Russian’s cheeks.

“No!” He chuckled as he found a pillow shoved into his face. After a small struggle, he was able to free the pillow from his face and place it under his head before grabbing his phone that had landed on the bed somehow. He opened instagram and started flipping through it, noticing how a lot of figure skaters currently competing in the Grand Prix finals had updated there instagrams recently. Even Otabek had posted a couple of photos about preparing for the finals, which was unusual for him. He paused at Otabek’s post before concluding that Yuri must have taken over his boyfriends account, Otabek sucked at hashtags and that current photo he was looking at had eight.

He paused as he stumbled across a picture from almost two hours ago of Chris and Viktor together, the teen’s hair still long in the picture. He glanced up at said male to seem him playing some game on his phone while playing with a strand of his hair. He gave the Russian’s side a squeeze before returning to his scrolling. The Russian looked just as good with short hair as he did with long hair.

“I made Chris cry.” He heard the teen mumble, causing a chuckle to leave him at how casually Viktor has stated the fact.

***

The shock on everyone’s face, excluding Chris, who looked like he wanted to cry, and Otabek, who he honestly believed that the man was only able to show emotions when it came to Yuri, was rather amusing.

Yuri had come to a complete halt in the middle of his routine, staring with dropped jaw.

JJ had rushed over and asked if something had happened or if he was ill. Even going as far to question if he should be competing.

Phichit had stared wide-eyed for a couple of minutes before turning on Chris with what he could only assume was a bewildered look.

Despite the shocked looks he got, Viktor took it all in his stride, ignoring everyone to focus on his routines.

Viktor was insistent on completing the whole routine of 'Aria: Stay Close to Me', which included four quads. The teen had barely been able to land three, and though he could do it, he scarified some of the easier jumps to do so.

No matter what he said, the teen refused to change his mind. Stating that he needed all four quads to beat JJ’s high base score.

“Drop to three, if you do it flawlessly, you could tie.” He tried once more to persuaded the teen.

“Exactly, _could_ tie. I don’t want to tie, Yuuri.” The Russian whined while staring up at him with hopefully eyes. He sighed before shaking his head.

“Run through your short for tomorrow.” He sighed in defeat. There was a chuckle beside him before he was slapped on the back.

“Now you understand the pain of coaching.” Celestino told him, while Josef chuckling from beside them.

“The stubbornness of figure skaters.” The Swiss coach said as some of the skaters started to move off the ice, announcing they were done for the day. He smiled and waved goodbye to Celestino and Phichit as the pair headed off after JJ and his parents.

Viktor was just stepping off the ice when Chris and Josef followed after them, calling out good lucks over their shoulders. He held onto Viktor’s arm as the teen put on his blade protects before smiling up at him.

“You’re going to take me sightseeing, right?” Yuuri blinked a few times at the blue-eyed man’s statement before raising an eyebrow. “This is my first time in Barcelona, you need to take me sightseeing.” He let out a sigh of defeat before nodding his head.

“Fine.” He chuckled at the excited grin he got as the teen packed up his stuff in a hurry before announcing to what was left of the final competitors that they were off too. As they walked towards the change rooms, he stumbled a step when Viktor gave him a small shove.

“I still need to get you a birthday present.” He blinked in surprise at the teens statement. “Did you really think that I didn’t know?”

“It’s not that big of a deal.” He shrugged as he handed Viktor his drink bottle.

“Just because we didn’t have time to celebrate because of the whole Makkachin thing, doesn’t mean I’m going to let it slide. I’m going to get you a present and you will accept it.” He let out a sigh but shrugged in defeat.

“If you must.” He didn’t care much for his birthday, having stopped caring when he turned 21 and became legal in almost every country in the world. Since then, he had managed to convince everyone to keep it small. No parties or presents, just simple congratulations. He had sort of hoped that Viktor wouldn’t pick up on it, but it seemed that the teen had and wouldn’t let it drop despite being almost a month late.

But they had both been a bit adsorbed in preparing for the finals to really have any time to do anything else.

“I’ll get you the best present ever.” He was ensured with a kiss on the cheek before the teen disappeared off to get changed out of his workout gear.


	38. Chapter 38

Yuri was out of breath and cursing.

After practice, he ditched Yakov at the hotel with a promise to behave himself before heading off into the city.

He had made plans with Otabek to have lunch together, but he had barely made it a block from the hotel when his fangirls had tracked him done. And these were not the good fans either, these were the fans that called him the Russian Fairy and always drew pictures of him with cat ears.

Not to mention they were stalkers and creepy as hell.

He bolted into an empty alleyway and leant against a backdoor while attempting to catch his breath. He could hear them around the corner, talking about him.

“Where’s Yuratchka?”

“I can smell Yuratchka.”

“He’s over here, I’m sure of it.”

“Oh, this hair is Yuratchka’s.”

He felt like shouting curses in annoyance when he heard the all too familiar sound of a motorbike. He let out a sigh that appeared in front of him.

His boyfriend of 5 years, wrapped up nice and tightly in a leather jacket, seated on a motorbike.

“Yura, get on.” He caught the helmet thrown to him and slipped it on his head while jumping on behind his boyfriend without a second thought. Wrapping his arms around the older skater’s waist as they speed out of the alleyway and away from his crazy fangirls. He held onto his boyfriends’ waist for a couple of minutes as he properly caught his breath.

“Thanks for saving my butt.” He mumbled when they were stopped at a red light, leaning into his boyfriend back happily. He smirked at the grunt he got in response which only turned into a soft smile when a hand was placed over his and given a gentle squeeze.

He leant back slightly as the bike started to move again, feeling the wind on his face as they weaved through the city traffic before pulling off into a quiet side street. He climbed off the bike after Otabek had turned the motorbike off before pulled his helmet off. He shook his hair in an attempt to get rid of any helmet hair before turning to his boyfriend.

Soft lips meet his immediately, causing a smirk to appear on his lips as he wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s waist.

“What was that for?” He hummed after the kiss was broken.

“Hi.” He chuckled at the response he got before handing the Kazakhstani the helmet he had been given.

“Nice bike.” He said while glancing around his boyfriend to stare at the gorgeous machine. It was nothing like his boyfriends’ pride and joy at his house in Russia, but it was still a nice enough bike.

“Couldn’t help myself.” Otabek replied with a shrug. He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and was kissed into silence before he could comment. “Come on, let’s go eat.” He chuckled as his hand was laced with Otabek’s before he was dragged along, towards whatever restaurant his partner chose.

He couldn’t wait for the break between the Grand Prix and Worlds, where he could go to Almaty and stay with Otabek for a couple of weeks, or Otabek would came to Saint Petersburg and stayed with him. It didn’t really matter as long as they were able to spend some time together.

They only got a couple weeks together each year. Between the Grand Prix, Nationals, Worlds, and the Olympics, if it was on, they didn’t exactly get to spend much time together.

They had spoken once of taking a season off to get married and spend a couple of months as far away from the professional world of figure skating as possible, but neither of them could. Otabek only had a few more seasons left in him, already starting to complain about minor things like knee pains and difficulty jumping at times. Himself on the other hand, he was at his prime. If he was lucky, he could be professionally skating for another five to six years.

As much as he would love to marry the love of his life, they had both agreed when they started dating that skating came first.

“Yura?” He blinked and noticed that they were standing still, Otabek standing in front of him with a raised eyebrow. He could tell that the Kazakhstani was worried, as good as he was at keeping his face blank, Otabek had never been good at keeping his feelings from his eyes. He gave the older skaters hand a gentle squeeze before stepping around him and pulling him along.

“Let’s try that one over there.” He said, pointing towards one of the more quieter restaurants around. He received a gentle squeeze of his hand before they walked towards the chosen restaurant together.


	39. Chapter 39

Yuuri was baffled to say the least.

He was the one given praise for his high stamina and endurance, but Viktor was currently running laps around him.

Sure, his anxiety was playing up a little, and he had almost thrown up the lunch they had shared twice, but he was fine. He had competed after massive panic attacks before, even managing to land four quads in said competition.

So how running around shopping with Viktor had exhausted him was a mystery.

The silvery haired Russian was seriously determined on getting him a birthday present, ‘the best birthday present ever’ as he had been told multiple times. This had resulted in going into almost every shop and browsing through it.

The results almost always turned out the same, the teen finding things he would like and would get for himself but nothing he deemed suitable for his birthday present.

He himself had spotted a few things the teen would like and purchased them for the Russian, ignoring the pouts he got for doing so because it was clear that Viktor did like the things he had gotten.

“Stop buying me stuff.” Viktor huffed while taking the slate blue trench coat he had just bought for the teen.

“Don’t you like it?” He questioned with a tilt of his head, getting a flustered look in response.

“Yes. No. Just stop.” The blue-eyed Russian whined with a pout. “I’m trying to find you a birthday present.”

“Your own birthday is in a couple of days.” He pointed out, earning a soft shove.

“Yuuri.” Viktor huffed before wrapping his arms around on of his. He blinked before a soft smile found its way to his lips. “I just want to get you the best present to thank you for everything.” He chuckled and shuffled all the bags he had been forced to hold into one hand so he could wrap an arm around Viktor’s waist.

“There is no need to thank me for that. It wasn’t like I made it easy on you.” He pointed out. He got a snort in response before he was pulled along.

The sun had set not too long ago, letting all the Christmas lights brighten the streets around them. On their way back, they stumbled across a Christmas market which Viktor happily dragged him into.

He smiled as he glanced around, looking at all the beautiful handmade Christmas decorations that were for sale.

He glanced to the side when he felt Viktor let go of his arm and disappear from his side. It only took a second to spot the teen order something from a small stand which was serving hot drinks. A moment later, the silvery haired teen was a steaming hot cup in his hands.

“Taste this.” Viktor said while holding the cup up to his face, allowing him to smell the sweet aroma coming from the cup. He gentle grabbed the cup and took a small sip, letting the warmth of the drink heat him up a little.

“Hot chocolate.” He said with a smile, earning a cheerful nod from the teen before the cup was stolen from him and his arm was once again taken prisoner by Viktor’s own arms.

They went silent again as they wondered down the street, simply looking at each stall as they passed it. He was suddenly pulled to a halt by Viktor.

“Viktor?” He questioned in confusion before the teen once again broke from his side and ran towards a window display, somehow not spilling his hot chocolate as he did so. He blinked in confusion before following the teen at a more relaxed pace. Before he could catch up with the Russian, he had moved to the stores door and entered said store. He followed Viktor into the store a moment later and blinked in surprise. They were in a jewellery store. Viktor was already talking to one of the employees while looking down into one of the many glass display cases. He walked up behind the teen to see him looking at rings, engagement rings. He felt his face turn bright red as Viktor picked out what he wanted. He glanced down at the teen who looked so happy while looking down at the rings before speaking up.

“Could we make it two?” He asked the employees, earning a surprised look from both Viktor and the employees.

“Two?” The employees questioned.

“Yes, two of the same.” He said with a nod while staring at Viktor whose eyes were wide in shock.

“Of course!” The employees said happily, helping them both get the correct sizes. When it came down to payment, he was just pulling out his wallet when Viktor shoved him out of the way and placed his card down.

“I’ll pay in instalments.” The teen said with a charming smile. He rolled his eyes but chose to let the teen do what he wanted.

A couple of minutes later, he found himself for the second night in a row outside Sagrada Família. Viktor had grabbed his hand and peeled off his glove and with trembling hands slipped a ring onto his right ring finger.

“Thank you for everything up to now.” Viktor told him while staring down at the ring he had just put on him. “When I saw the ring all I could think of was to get you a good luck charm, something you could use to remember me. It’s also a promise. A promise that I’ll try my best from tomorrow onwards.” He slowly lifted his gaze from his ring to Viktor, who was blushing a lovely shade of red. He smiled gently while grabbing the teens right hand and lifting it up.

“Tomorrow, I don’t want your best.” He said while gently sliding the second ring in the pair onto Viktor’s right ring finger, “I just want you to show me the skating that you can honestly say you liked best.” Viktor giggled and threw his arms around his throat, hugging him tightly. He chuckled along while wrapping his own arms around the silvery haired male.

“I love you, Yuuri Katsuki.” Viktor mumbled as they hugged tightly. He smiled happily as he squeezed the teen a little tighter.

“And I love you, Viktor Nikiforov.” He responded.

“When I win gold, I want to get married somewhere pretty with only the important people in our lives.” He flushed before nodded his head.

“Sounds like a plan.” He agreed while gently pulling the teen away from him. When they stood face to face, he gently gasped Viktor’s face in his hands and kissed him.


	40. Chapter 40

Yuuri was smiling down at Viktor as the teen told him about some of the rink mates he had when he was training under Yakov. The pair were off to meet up with Phichit, who had invited them to a bit of a celebration dinner for making it to the finals. The Thai skater had informed them that Chris would also be joining them, which meant Viktor was even more willing to go than he was before.

The teen was in the middle of telling him about the time Mila, Russia’s top female figure skater, had lifted Yuri over his head when he stopped mid-sentence. He blinked in confusion before noticing that the silvery haired male was staring at something. He followed the Russian’s gaze and spotted Yuri and Otabek walking a little way in front of them.

With a cheeky giggle, Viktor bolted towards the pair and pouncing onto the older Russia’s back. He sighed to himself as he followed after his fiancée who was being cursed at in Russian, or so he assumed.

“Get off of me.” Yuri spat out in English before Viktor took mercy on the blonde and did as he was asked.

“Viktor.” He sighed as the teen quickly moved behind him for protection from Yuri. Otabek stepped in before Yuri could make a dive at him and Viktor, grabbing the enraged Russian around the waist which immediately calmed the blonde down.

“Hi~” Viktor greeted the pair with a giggle.

“You little shit.” Yuri mumbled, though seemed more than content to stay pressed into Otabek’s side.

“I’m sorry,” Yuuri said with an apologetic smile, “We were just on our way to have dinner with a few of the other skaters. Would you like to join us?” He offered, noticing the way the pair shared a quick look.

“As long as the stupid Canadian isn’t there, sure.” Yuri answered with a shrug.

“No Canadian’s were invited.” Viktor ensured while popped out from behind him and leading the way to the restaurant Phichit had given to them. Within minutes, the two pairs were seated at an undercover, outside table with heaters going all around them.

“What the hell happened to your hair?” Yuri questioned Viktor after they had all order. The silvery haired male who had been mumbling with Chris about their shopping spree perked up at the question before lifting a hand to his hair.

“Do you like it?” The teen asked with a tilt of his head.

“That isn’t what I ask, shithead.” Yuri growled in irritation. Chris gave a small sniffle from beside Viktor while rubbing at one of his eyes.

“He asked me to cut it. Can you believe it.” The Swiss teen mumbled in a heartbroken tone. “I had to cut all that gorgeous hair off. It broke my heart.” Viktor let out a coo of concern while nuzzling Chris’ cheek in comfort.

“Are you kidding me?” He heard Yuri mumble under his breath with a sigh.

“What was with the sudden decision?” Phichit questioned while handing Chris a napkin for his eyes. Viktor glanced around the table before shrugging.

“I wanted a change.” The table went silent, other than Chris’ heartbroken sniffles at having to cut his best friends hair. The silence only lasted a minute before food started to arrive.

The conversation around the table became a bit more relaxed, that was until Viktor spoke up.

“It’s kind of weird for us all to be here like this.” The teen commented, “I mean, at least years’ finals, I didn’t speak to anyone other than Chris last year, even at the banquet.” Yuuri choked on the mouthful of rice he had just eaten. Coughing madly as he tried to recover from what he had just heard.

Yuri snickered behind the glass of beer in his hands, which was echoed by a smirk from Otabek and a giggle from Phichit.

“Oh how wrong you are.” Phichit said with a bright smile. “You and Chris got drunk on champagne and started dancing.” The two teens eyes widened at the statement. “Everyone saw it.” The Thai man stated with a bright smile.

“Huh?!” The two teens shouted in shock, earning chuckles and snickers from around the table. Even he couldn’t help but smile shyly at the shocked pair.

“That was disgusting as hell.” Yuri huffed.

“Yuri still has photos on his phone.” Otabek said, pulling said phone out of Yuri’s pocket and unlocking it.

“Beka.” Yuri groaned at his boyfriend as Otabek handed the phone to him. He felt a light blush dust his cheeks as he flicked through the photos, he didn’t exactly know what the pair had gotten up to himself. Due to his medication, he wasn’t allowed to drink, so he had only planned to stayed at the banquet for an hour maybe two, long enough to talk to a few important figure skating people and a couple of the skaters as well.

But as he was leaving, he had been dragged into dancing with Viktor and Chris. The pair had mumbled drunken nothings to him in multiple languages that he didn’t understand before he was rescued by Celestino and allowed to leave. He felt his widen at some of the photos he scrolled across.

“You two even did some pole dancing, half naked.” Phichit giggled, horrifying the pair. Viktor tried to grab the phone he was holding but he quickly held it out of reach.

“Don’t look.” His fiancée whined with a pout before gasping as the phone was stolen off him by its rightful owner.

“What’s with the rings, you two?” Chris asked, causing the whole table to freeze and turned to them. Yuuri blushed as he glanced down at the ring on his finger.

“They are a pair.” Viktor stated with a bright smile.

“Congrats on your marriage!” Phichit shouted in delight while clapping his hands. His eyes widened in shock and he shook his head.

“Wait, no, Phichit.” He said before groaning as Phichit stood up and turned to the rest of the restaurant.

“Everyone! My good friend here got married!” Phichit shouted, causing the restaurant to burst into applause. He groaned and buried his head into his sleeve as he felt panic from the sudden attention hit him. He felt a hand on his back, gently rubbing comforting circles.

“Please don’t get the wrong idea.” He heard Viktor say, “This is an engagement ring. We’ll get married once I win a gold medal.” The Russian teen announced. He slowly raised his head to see the other four skaters staring at him seriously.

“A gold medal, huh?” The four other skaters mumbled with rather intimidating looks if he was honest.

“Over my dead body, shithead.” Yuri growled. He glanced towards the blonde curiously, he was aware that the blonde was competitive but there was something else.

“Oh?” Viktor questioned, “What are we talking about? The medal or the marriage?” He glanced towards his fiancée with a surprised look before turning back to Yuri. Otabek was staring at his boyfriend with an interested look, clearly curious about Yuri’s response.

“Both.” He felt a smile appear on his lips at his friends’ statement. He had been one of the first few to find out about Yuri and Otabek’s relationship, having been the person Yuri had rung up the day it came official. Despite how much Yuri denied it, they were friends.

“So, whoever wins gold is going to get married, huh?” Viktor asked with a smirk.

“Shouldn’t one be engaged before deciding on marriage?” Chris questioned, with a smirk to match Viktor’s.

Everyone glanced across at Yuri and Otabek. The pair were silent for a moment before Otabek stood up. He could tell that Yuri had a small moment of panic before Otabek moved the chair he had been sitting on out of the way and got down on one knee. There was a number of gasps from around the table at what happened next.

“Yurochka, will you do me the honour of marrying me?” Otabek asked while pulling a ring box out of his jacket pocket and opening it up. Everyone turned their gaze to Yuri who sat there was a dropped jaw and a bright red blush on his cheeks as he stared down at his long-time boyfriend.

“Fuck,” The blonde Russian mumbled while rubbing at one of his eyes, “God, yes.” Yuri said before diving into Otabek’s arms. He smiled as he started to clap along with the rest of the table.

“Damn, I hadn’t expected that.” He heard Chris mumbled to Viktor.

“That makes two of us.” Viktor responded with a sigh.

He chuckled as he watched Otabek lift Yuri into the air and kiss him, a gorgeous black gold ring on Yuri’s finger.

“That puts a bit more pressure on you, Viktor.” He said while a gentle smile while glancing towards his fiancée.

“I’ll win.” Viktor said with a serious look while grabbing one of his hands and tangling their fingers together.


	41. Chapter 41

Viktor woke early that next morning, wrapped up in Yuuri’s arm as they often found themselves these days. A small amount of light pierced the room, indicating that the sun was only just beginning to rise.

He slowly raised his head from where is was buried in his fiancée’s chest and smiled at the peaceful face he found. Yuuri was still fast asleep with one arm draped over him and the other one just lying there in front of his face with a gentle glitter of gold shining in the soft light. He smiled brightly at the sight of Yuuri’s ring, so glad that the Japanese man had accepted his feelings and returned them. He rolled onto his back and stared up at the roof for the moment.

He was happy, he didn’t even care what the rest of the world thought, he was happy that he was engaged to Yuuri.

He slowly slipped out of bed, making sure that he didn’t wake Yuuri in the process before changing and deciding to take a walk along the coastline. He left the hotel and smiled as he approached the beach, letting the scent of the ocean overtaking him. A shiver overtook as the scent of the ocean also came with a chilly breeze, causing him to huddled into the slate blue trench coat Yuuri had bought for him the day before. He slowly lifted his right hand up in front of him, staring at the gorgeous gold ring that matched Yuuri’s in the morning light.

He yelped in shock as he was kicked in the side, causing him to stumble a few steps in shock. He span around to yell at whoever had kicked him, only to freeze at who he saw.

Yuri was standing there, staring at him seriously.

“Why do you look so happy to be looking after that damn pig?” The blonde questioned him. He stared at the blonde for a moment before turning to gaze at the ocean again.

“Congratulations on your engagement.” He stated, choosing to ignore the blondes pervious comment this time.

“Huh?” Yuri mumbled, “Thanks?” He chuckled to himself at the blondes’ confusions. His fellow Russian had obviously been expecting a snarkier response than the one he got.

“It was about time. I mean, you’ve been together five years.” He said while spreading his arms out wide as another gust of wind hit him.

“It was a surprise.” Yuri mumbled while also turning to face the sea.

“Oh, how so?” He questioned while glancing towards the older skater. Yuri was staring down at his ring. He blinked as he moved close, noticing for the first time that the ring was black. He gently grabbed Yuri’s hand and lifted it up.

“Wow, black gold.” He said in awe, it really did suit the older Russian. Yuri was never one to follow the rules, always trying to push them and change them. So, having a ring that wasn’t the proper gold suited him perfectly.

“I had only been thinking yesterday about how much I wanted to marry Beka. But I also reasoned with myself that it wouldn’t be on the books for another six years at best.” He glanced up and stared at Yuri who had an unusually soft look on his face. “And he proposed to me.” Viktor smiled and wrapped an arm around on of Yuri’s.

“Even I can tell that you two are perfect for each other.” He ensured the man, “There is no need to wait. You can take a little bit of time off after this, you have some time before Worlds after all. Take some time off and get married. But only if you can beat me.” He received a chuckle of amusement before he was shoved away.

“Like I would let you win, shithead.” Yuri sneered while turning and starting to walk away.

“Good luck, Kotenok.” He shouted while waving after the blonde Russian. He felt a giggle leave him as he turned back to the sea again. He let his eyes slide shut as he took a deep breath. The sounds, the smell, it all reminded him of Hasetsu.

Which therefore led his thoughts to Yuuri.

He wondered what the Japanese planned for next season. At 24, he still had a few more years in him if he wanted to come back.

The large smile that had been on his face slowly started to fade at the thought of Yuuri leaving him.

Sure, they were engaged but if Yuuri returned to the stage wouldn’t he go back to America?

Wouldn’t that leave him without a coach?

He had asked Yuuri to be his coach until he retired, but he hadn’t even factored in Yuuri returning back to the ice when he asked.

He felt a tear roll down his cheek before he took a shaky breath.

It wasn’t the time to think about what happens after. He had to focus on winning the Grand Prix first.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ocean a moment longer before raising his hand up once more.

“I’m engaged to Yuuri Katsuki.” He mumbled with a joyful giggle.


	42. Chapter 42

Yuuri smiled softly at Viktor as the silvery haired male took a few deep breaths in front of him.

Due to qualifying last for finals, Viktor was up first to skate. The rest of the skaters had already gotten off the ice after the warmup period, leaving Viktor the last one standing.

“Yuuri.” He blinked as the Russian held his hands out towards him. He smiled while grabbing hold of the teens hands and letting their fingers lace together.

“Show me the skating you like best.” He reminded the teen, earning a bright smile in response. Viktor nodded his head before lifting his right hand up and kissing over the engagement ring.

“I’ll do my best, I promise.” He couldn’t help but believe the teen as they slowly separated.

“Davai.” He mumbled gently before Viktor skated further into the rink.

The media had gone wild when they had seen Viktor’s new hair and started bombarding the young skater was questions the moment they were spotted. Who would have thought that a haircut, even if it was a little dramatic, would cause such a fuss. He could hear even now the mumbles about the Russian teens dramatic hair change.

Viktor stepped into his starting position and stood, frozen on the ice.

The moment the music started, all the troubles and doubt left Viktor’s mind and his body relaxed.

He raised his right hand to his face and watched closely as the Russian moved through his first step with no difficultly, perfectly spinning and turning to the beat of the piano.

He felt his breath catch in anticipation as Viktor slide into the hydroblading position. Sliding on the back inside edge of his left leg that was bent deeply, while his right leg crossed behind and extended outside the circle, Viktor’s upper body leant into the circular motion with one hand skimming the ice.

A perfect hydroblade position that connected with his first jump, the moment he slid out of the hydroblade position, he threw himself into the air, nailing the quadruple flip.

He released the breath he was holding as Viktor did a half rotation of the rink, hypnotising the audience before throwing himself into a flying sit spin as the music changed.

The teen maintained the low sit spin before slowly raising before coming to a stop along with music.

As the music started again seconds later, the Russian speed forwards, throwing himself into a perfect triple axel jump that had incredible height and distance despite the minimal lead up.

He chuckled as Viktor entered the camel sit spin in perfect tune with the music, easily changing feet in the middle of the spin before raising up and doing another small rotation of the rink as the piano started to quieten down. Meaning that Viktor’s big jump combination was coming up.

A gasp left him as the silvery haired Russian landed the quadruple Salchow, triple toe loop. He hadn’t gasped at the fact that the teen had landed them but rather that the Russian had raise his hand for the quad and both for the triple.

They had never mentioned anything about lifting hands in jumps, not many people focused on it because of how out of balance it could make a person.

In the current competition, only Yuri was doing it but Yuri had been doing it for years in an attempt to outscore him.

He felt a smile raise to his lips as the music took a sudden turn, being faster and more powerful than ever before. And like the performer he was, Viktor did his second step sequence to the beat of the piano like it was breathing, easily keeping up with the fast pace.

The step sequence finished in the centre of the rink and Viktor finished his routine with the spin combination, a corkscrew sit spin that rose into a scratch spin before ending the routine with his hands thrown upwards as the last key echoed around them.

There was a long moment of silence before the crowd erupted into applause, cheers and shouting come from everywhere in the room.

Viktor blinked a few times, coming down from his high before bowling at the audience. He chuckled as he hurried to the exit of the ice near the kiss and cry, waiting for Viktor who happily skated towards him.

He had prepared himself for the hug that he normally got from the teen, but for once the teen didn’t jump him as he stepped off the ice. He blinked in confusion as the teen used him for support while slipping on his blade protectors.

He held out Viktor’s jacket, which the teen happily shrugged on before they stood there staring at each other. He could tell that Viktor was clearly enjoying the confused looked look on his face.

He opened his mouth to question the teen when two arms were thrown around his neck and he was pulled into a mind-blowing kiss.

“That was the skating I like best.” Viktor mumbled as they broke apart before walking to the kiss and cry. He stood there froze with a blush on his cheeks for a moment or two before hurrying after the teen and joining him at the kiss and cry booth.

“What prompted the arm rise?” He questioned once he had gotten his brain working again. Viktor shot him one of his charming smiles while hugging the toy poodle toy that had been thrown on the ice for him.

“I honestly down know. It just felt natural.” He let out a sigh before shaking his head in amusement before the pair looked forwards as they announced Viktor’s score.

“111.91.” The score read, earning a gasp from the teen.

“A new personal best.” Viktor squealed while jumping on him. He chuckled as he hugged the teen back. The teen had almost beaten his world record of 114.21.

“Incredible, Viktor.” He mumbled as he hugged the Russian tightly to his side.

Viktor just never seemed to stop surprising him.


	43. Chapter 43

The results at the end of the day were rather surprising.

Yuri had come out on first, breaking his world record with an awe-inspiring performance of ‘In Regards to Love: Agape’ which was clearly dedicated to his new fiancée. Scoring 118.56 in the end.

Not surprising at all, Otabek came in second place, scoring 113.82. It was unclear if he had simply been showing off for his fiancée or had simply given everything in his routine. Whatever it was, the Kazakhstani was surely bring home a medal if he can perform half as good in the free skate.

Viktor ranked third, barley beating Phichit who score a personal best of 104.73.

Chris ranked fifth with a 102.37, beating the last rank skater by almost 25 points.

JJ ranked last, which surprised everyone and pleased a pair of Russian’s too much in his opinion. The Canadian had clearly been overcome by a large case of stage fright and had scored 86.71, meaning he was the only competitor to not score over 100.

After escaping the hordes of media, they had returned to the hotel to relax before the free skate.

Viktor had gone over to Chris’ room to talk about whatever those two talked about, leaving him alone in their room of the moment anyway.

Yuuri had taken an extra long shower due to having the room to himself without an over-affectionate Russian there to interrupt his shower every couple of minutes with pointless questions.

He had just gotten changed after his shoulder when he heard his phone go off, indicating he had gotten a message.

He blinked in surprise when he saw Yuuko’s name on the screen. He unlocked his phone before his eyes widened as he read the message.

No, it was impossible, this couldn't be happening.

***

Viktor couldn’t help but giggle as Chris and himself scrolled through the one of the hottest hashtags on twitter at the moment. #JJFailsToPerform

“Oh, oh. Look at this one. ‘I wasn’t aware that JJ style involved crashing and burning’.” He read out loud before the pair burst into giggles.

“Oh god, look at this one. ‘For all his arrogant comments, I was expecting a little more from the man brave enough to call Yuri Plisetsky a girl.’” He gasped and leant over to read the comment off Chris’ phone.

“He didn’t?” He questioned, earning a nod and giggle from his friend.

“He did, in Canada.” Chris giggled. He shook his head in disbelieve before turning back to his phone. He had barely scrolled through three posts when the door was thrown up, catching both teens attention.

There in all his glory was Chris’ boyfriend, Noah. The 19-year-old dancer was truly a sight to see and it was no surprise that Chris was head over heels with the man. He blinked as he stared at the out of breath man standing in the doorway.

“Oh, thank god. Viktor, where is Yuuri?” Noah demanded, his French accent coming through as he spoke in English. He frowned and tilted his head to the side.

“In our room.” He responded hesitantly.

“What’s the fuss, Noah?” Chris asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

“Have either of you checked social media?” He asked in French, thankfully he spoke French fluently after years of being friends with Chris. The pair held up their phone which was opened on twitter, after a moment of looking over their phones he sighed.

“Other than the failed skaters’ posts.” The pair shared a look before turning their phones back to them and pushing the home button on the app.

He felt his eyes widen at what he saw. He drove from the bed and bolted out of the room, ignoring the shouts from behind him as he ran towards his room. He spotted Phichit, Celestino and Chris’ coach, Josef standing in front of his hotel room. The trio moved out of the way as he came close and shoved his key card into the room and pushing the door open.

“Yuuri?” He called out as he entered the room. He glanced around as Phichit pushed passed him to check the bathroom. He glanced around the room before spotting Yuuri’s phone on the bed. He grabbed it and typed in the all familiar code to see it opened on a message from Yuuko.

_‘Why is the media reporting about you attempting suicide? Call me immediately.’_

He swore and span around to face the two coaches in front of him.

“He knows.” He said with a panicked look.

“WHERE THE HELL IS KATSUDON?!” Yuri shouted as he burst into the room, a lot more panicky than angry.

“We don’t know.” Phichit replied as he came out of the bathroom. Otabek finally appeared in the doorway, clearly out of breath at having to chase down his fiancée.

“Is it true?” Yuri growled, moving forwards to grab Phichit’s collar. “Did Yuuri really attempt suicide?” Otabek grabbed Yuri, detangling the blonde from the Thai skater while mumbling something softly into the Russian’s ear.

“Yes,” Phichit said with a weak smile, “Almost three years ago before Worlds, he tried to overdose on sleeping tablets and anxiety medication.” The room went silent as everyone processed the information just handed out. He jumped slightly as he felt arms wrapped around him. He hadn’t even realised he had started crying until that moment. He buried his face into whoever’s chest he had been pulled into and let the sobs lose.

He had known, Yuuri had told him. But the Japanese hadn’t gone into much detail. Simply stated that he had attempted suicide and if Phichit hadn’t been around, he wouldn’t have made it.

“We have to go look for him.” He heard Chris say from somewhere in the room. He didn’t even notice when the Swiss had caught up to him. He sniffled as he felt a hand rub his back.

“It’s okay. Everything will be fine.” Someone mumbled to him in Russian. He bit his lip when he realised who was hugging him. He was almost positive that no one else in the room knew Russian, meaning that Yuri was the one holding him.

“No.” His head shot up to stare at Celestino with wide eyes.

“What the hell do you mean no?” Yuri growled, though his arms remind wrapped around him securely.

“You five need to rest for tomorrow. I don’t want any of you getting hurt and catching a cold or anything that could affect your performance tomorrow.” Celestino said while staring down at the five currently competing skaters.

“We will look for Yuuri.” Josef ensured the group. He took a shaky breath while raising his hands to wipe his tears away.

“He’ll be fine,” Yuri told him while finally releasing him. “He is engaged to you after all. He can’t leave you hanging.” He chuckled weakly at his fellow Russian before glancing down at his ring and nodding his head.

“You are right.” He mumbled back with a weak smile.


	44. Chapter 44

Yuuri didn’t know how the media found out.

Due to patient confidentiality law, without his permission his medical history could not be leaked to the media.

But it had and it was everywhere. Everyone wanted to know if it was true.

Some people had even commented saying that he shouldn’t have been competing if he was that ‘sick’, like having depression or anxiety was some illness that would fade over time.

He took a shaky breath while running a hand through his hair.

It had only taken him half an hour to escape the hotel before it became overrun by reporters, track down the nearest public skating rink, convince the owner to let him skate by himself and to keep it quiet from the media.

The owner had been against it at first until his daughter had appeared and convinced her father to do it, telling her father that he was a ‘skating legend’ who was asking to use their skating rink.

Of course, the little girls had demanded an autograph and a selfie in payment for convincing her father to let him skate, something he was more than willing to do for the girl if it meant he could get on the ice.

The girl would have been maybe twelve and had mumbled after their selfie together that she was a fan of his, like it hadn’t been obvious beforehand.

He was left alone in the skating rink, where he slipped on his skates that he had brought with him. Viktor had question him when he saw his skates packed, but he had simply smile and shrugged in response.

His skates always came with him. Because when things got too much, the ice is the only place the calmed him down.

He stretched his arms above his head as he did a few laps of the ice before moving into the centre of the ice.

For years, people have always asked him what his favourite routine is and whenever he was asked he always responded the same.

“It’s called ‘Yuri on Ice’ I’ve never actually used it in a competition before.” He would admit with a nervous chuckle, “It’s a very personal routine and I suppose I’ve just never been brave enough to show everyone.”

It was his favourite because it was a story of his life on the ice. The mistakes and fails he had had, but also the success and love.

He took a breath, while closing his eyes. He didn’t need music to skate this routine, because he knew it off by heart.

It started of slow, a simply raise of his hands upwards before a smooth half spin. He brought his hands down as he pauses on the ice, almost like exhaling before doing some of his signature eye-catching step sequences he was known for as he moved into the first jump.

A quadruple toe look, triple toe loop combination. He landed them smoothly, despite not having practiced properly in what felt like forever.

He felt his eyes closed as he moved across the ice completely by muscle memory, letting the tension and stress fade. He didn’t even notice he had moved into the next jumped until he landed the quadruple Salchow. The was followed in quick secession by a triple flip.

A smile came to his lips as he spread wide, feeling the air on his face as he skated gracefully across the ice.

He wasn’t a figure skating champion right now, he was Yuuri Katsuki, a guy from a small coastline town in Japan.

He threw himself into a triple axel with hopefully the same grace as he was feeling right now.

He couldn’t help but let out a small laugh as he threw himself into a quadruple toe loop. When he had originally come up with the routine, he had tried so many jumps at that point but the quadruple toe loop always seemed to fit the best. Sure, it wasn’t as flashy or as high scoring as a quad Lutz or a quad flip, but it fit the routine better.

He span and twirled to the music in his head, easily landing the triple axel, single loops, triple Salchow that came next in the routine.

His smile grew as he started to feel the exhaustion that came with the routine.

Despite this he still threw himself into the triple Lutz, triple toe loop.

He let out a breath as he progressed into the high paced step sequence which was his favourite part of the routine.

People always said that you had to focus on jumps for a high score, but in his opinion you didn’t have to.

When he had started competing, his jumps were pathetic and the only reason he started getting notice was because of his step sequences.

He smiled softly to himself as he moved towards the last jump. He normally would do a quad Lutz or even a quad loop if he was feeling confident enough but he knew right away what he was going to do.

He jumped into the air, closing his eyes as he rotated in the air before landing it smoothly. Landing the quadruple flip.

He finished the routine off with a spin combination before finishing in his ending position, with his right hand over his heart and the left pointing towards an empty skating rink.

He blinked a few times before remembering where he was. He bent over and took a few deep breaths, it wasn’t exactly the easiest routine even if it was the one he normally did when he was overstressed.

“I thought I’d find you here.” He glanced up to see Celestino and Josef standing at the side of the rink, both looking rather relieved. He hadn’t even heard the pair enter the room.

He stared at the two coaches in front of him before it clicked in his head.

Oh, he had probably caused a few people to worry, if not panic and he had left his phone back at the hotel, so no one had known where he was.

He mumbled a swear, he was never good with pressure and always did reckless things.

“You better get off the ice, young man. You have five very worried skaters waiting for you back at your hotel.” Josef said with a smirk.

He flushed in embarrassment while skating towards them. He opened his mouth to apologise when he was cut off by Celestino.

“That was an incredible routine. Is that your famous ‘Yuri on Ice’?” His ex-coach questioned with a smile. He nodded his head as he stepped off the ice and put his blade protectors on. Once they were secure, he walked over to where he had left his street shoes and jacket and quickly got to work changing them over.

“It’s very impressive. Could have easily won against all the other routines this year. Even that Canadian wouldn’t have stood a chance, even if he hadn’t flunked the short skate.” Josef praised as he removed his skates. He gave a shrug in reply.

“It still needs a little bit of work.” He stated simply.

“How long have you been working on it already?” Celestino questioned with a smirk. He flushed and gave a small shrug.

“Couple of years.” He said while slipping his street shoes on and making sure his skates were secure in their bag.

“So, how are we going to enter the hotel without getting seen by the massive swarm of reporters probably camping outside?” He questioned, he had no desire to any questions about anything that had been leaked to the media.

“Just leave that to us.” Josef chuckled as the three of them left the skating rink and started to head back to the hotel.


	45. Chapter 45

Viktor sat on the bed, cuddled between Chris and Phichit while watching Yuri pace up and down the room while mumbling curses in Russian. Otabek sat on the rooms couch, watching his fiancée closely as the blonde paced.

He couldn’t help but worry for Yuuri, he had only seen one of his panic attacks and it had broken his heart. He never wanted to see Yuuri like that again.

The Japanese man looked a lot better with a smile on his face than crying his eyes out.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as Yuri stopped his pacing and turned to the bed.

“Where do you think the shithead is?” The blonde asked, causing the trio on the bed to share a look in an attempt to figure out who he was talking to.

“It’s hard to tell,” Phichit answered while giving Yuri a small smile, “Yuuri has two modes, I suppose you can say. Panic or flee.”

“Huh?” The blonde questioned with a raised eyebrow. The Thai man sighed while glancing down at him. He stared up at the man curiously, wanting to know what the older male meant.

“He’ll find a corner to break down in, or he’ll try and run away. Sort of a flight or fight mode I suppose you could say, but it’s a panic or flee.” Phichit explained.

“I asked where the shithead was, idiot.” The blonde growled before a gasp escaped him as Otabek wrapped his arms around Yuri’s waist and pulled the snarky Russian into his lap.

He watched as Yuri made no real complaints about being manhandled by his partner other than a slightly glare, but rather seemed more concerned with getting comfortable as he continued to glare towards them.

“A skating rink.” He mumbled more to himself than anyone else. He had seen the way Yuuri was drawn to the ice. The way the man let himself lose on the ice when he thought no one was looking.

“Normally the best place to look.” Phichit agreed with him. “Quiet places are the best places to look. Libraries, museums, quiet cafes, I’ve even found him in a grocery store once.” He raised an eyebrow questionable at the Thai male who chuckled and nodded his head.

“I don’t know either.” Phichit said, holding his hands up in surrender while chuckling to himself.

“I’ve found him hiding out in bathrooms before.” Yuri mumbled from across the room with a click of his tongue.

“How long has he been like this?” Chris asked while squeezing his hand gently.

“Since I met him.” Phichit said with a shrug, earning a hum of agreement from Yuri.

“He told me he was diagnosed with anxiety since he was ten.” He piped up, catching everyone’s attention.

“Enough time to make bad habits than.” Chris pointed out, he nodded with a sad smile.

“He’ll be fine. I’m sure Celestino and Josef will bring him back soon.” Phichit ensured them all. He gave the tanned male a weak smile and nodded his head.

He jumped slightly when he heard Chris mumble a curse in French. He blinked a few times before leaning more into his friend’s shoulder to see him scrolling through twitter on his phone which was hidden in his lap.

“I wouldn’t read them.” The two teens jolted in surprise and glanced up to see Otabek staring at them with his normal expressionless face. “They aren’t pretty.”

“Huh?” Yuri questioned, glancing towards them. He opened his mouth to protest when a squeal left him as someone suddenly leant on him. He grunted as Phichit leant on him while reaching across to grab Chris’ phone.

“Otabek is right. Don’t read the comments.” The Thai male said while throwing the phone across the room, so it landed next to the couple on the couch.

“Have you seen what they have been saying?” Chris demanded, he blinked in surprise, whatever Chris had read had clearly upset him. He leant forwards and nuzzled his friends’ cheek in an attempt to calm him down.

“That people think Yuuri doesn’t deserve any of his medals? That Yuuri shouldn’t be competing if he is so ‘weak’? That Yuuri is a disgrace to the sport?” Phichit questioned with a raised eyebrow. “Or that he should have died?”

Viktor gasped in shock and felt his eyes widen, he turned his head to look at Phichit only for Chris to grab one of his arms and pull him into a hug. He blinked away the tears that had suddenly blurred his vision as he wrapped his arms around his best friend and buried his face into the younger males’ shoulder as he hugged back.

“People are assholes.” He heard Yuri spit from across the room as he closed his eyes.

Yuuri didn’t deserve to die. He was the strongest person he knew. Who worked hard for the medals he had.

He wanted Yuuri.


	46. Chapter 46

Yuuri leant against the back of the elevators, a feeling of panic slowly starting to rise the higher he was lifted off the ground.

As Celestino and Josef had promised, they had been able to enter the building without having to confront the horde of reporters that were lying in wait at the front entry. Instead, the trio had entered the building through the underground car park.

He closed his eyes was letting out a breath in an attempt to calm himself.

He could only predict the panic that was sure to happen when he got back to his room.

“Yuuri, breathe.” He blinked a few times before realising he was hunched over slightly, struggling to breathe. He took a few gasps of air as a hand was gentle placed on his back. “Deep breaths.” He followed the voices prompts, and slowly was able to get his breathing back under control. He barely noticed they were on the right floor until Celestino stepped out of the elevator. He stood up properly before leading the way back to his room.

He got to the door before pausing, he took a deep breath before pulling the key card out of his pocket and inserting it into the slot. He waited for the beep of conformation before he turned the handle and pushed the door opened.

As he walked into the room, he felt all eyes on him as he greeted everyone in the room with a gentle smile.

He heard a gasp from the bed, drawing his attention to Viktor who scrambled off the bed from where he was seated between Chris and Phichit and right towards him. He smiled softly as he quickly found himself wrapped up in his fiancées arms. He leant down and landed a soft kiss on Viktor’s forehead.

“You weren’t here.” He heard the teen mumble into his chest. “I was so worried.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry.” He apologised, giving the rest of the room an apologetic smile.

“Did you find a quiet place?” Otabek voice question, drawing his attention to the man who was hidden underneath Yuri.

He blinked at the Kazakhstani before nodding his head and gently unwrapping one arms from around Viktor so he could drop the bag with his skates to the ground.

The clicking of his skates as they hit the ground causes the room to burst into multiple forms of laughter. Otabek and Yuri sat there chuckling, Phichit was letting out a loud cheerful laugh, while Chris and Viktor were giggling.

He frowned in confusion as the Russian in his arms pulled away from him.

“We all figured you’d be at some skating rink.” His fiancée explained, the worried look that had been on the teens face had been replaced with a relieved look.

He was too busy staring down at Viktor that he wasn’t aware of anyone else in the room until he was sweep up into a large huge. He gasped before chuckling as he realised that it was Phichit hugging him.

“At least keep your phone on your next time.” He gave a small apologetic smile to his best friend and nodded his head. Phichit hugged him for a moment longer before finally realising him, only for an arm to wrap around his shoulder and to be pulled into a one-armed hug from the side.

“What the hell were you thinking, dumbass?” The blonde growled while hugging him, “Don’t do anything stupid like that. Especially in a country where you don’t know the language. And you should know better than everyone to always carry your bloody phone everywhere with you.” He blinked in surprise before nodding his head.

He had half expected Yuri to blow a fuse and scream at him until he lost his voice, it wasn’t often that the blonde showed the soft side of him, especially to someone that wasn’t his boyfriend.

Despite how long they had been friend (or ‘non-friends’), he had only experienced the soft side of Yuri once and that was when the blonde had called him up when he had just started to date Otabek.

“You had him worried. You had most of us worried.” Otabek said while stepping up behind the blonde. Yuri released him from the one-armed hug and moved into Otabek’s arms, suddenly looking exhausted.

He barely had time to apologise when another body wrapped around him. He blinked down at the youngest skater in the room, who was hugging him tightly around the waist.

“People are assholes.” Chris mumbled, earning a chuckle from the three senior skaters around him and an amused smirk from Viktor. “Don’t listen to any of the crap they say, okay?” He gave the Swiss a gentle smile and ruffled his hair.

“I won’t.” Yuuri ensured the dual-coloured haired teen, who cheeks suddenly turned a cute shade of red. Chris quickly released him and moved to Viktor’s side, wrapping his arms around the silvery haired male and burying his head into Viktor’s shoulder. He heard a mumble of what he assumed was French come from the Swiss skater, which caused the Russian he was hanging off to giggle with a bright grin.

He glanced around at the skaters around him, wondering why he thought something would go wrong when he returned.

“Thank you. Thank you all.” He mumbled as he felt tears start to roll down his cheeks.

Before he knew it, he was crying in relief.

He chuckled weakly as he was suddenly pulled into a group hug by his friends. He hadn’t expected this much support from his friends, but he was so thankful for it.


	47. Chapter 47

Yuuri sat against the bed headboard, staring down at his sleeping fiancée while gently running his hands through the teens shortened hair.

The rest of the previous evening had gone by in a blur. They had sat around for a while, talking about everything and nothing before everyone had slowly started to float back to their own rooms to rest up for the free skate.

Yuri and Otabek were the first to leave, followed not long by Phichit which left Chris with them for a little while longer until the Swiss skater was collected by his coach just before the clock hit eleven.

Yuuri moved his hand from Viktor’s hair to the Russian’s cheek, gently rubbing his thumb over Viktor’s cheek. He froze when the teen shifted around before settling back down with a small sigh of content.

He couldn’t help the chuckle that left him as he leant down to lay a kiss on the top of Viktor’s head.

He was utterly in love with this boy. With his cheeky grins, his pouts of annoyance, his cheerful giggles, he loved them all.

He leant back again the headboard while reaching for his phone, ignoring the messages from his family as he opened up Instagram and starting to flick through some of his food blogs to pass the time.

He had been flicking through a cake blog when his phone was stolen out of his hands. He blinked once in confusion before turning his gaze onto Viktor, who was staring at his phone with a baffled look.

“Why is the cake green?” The Russian asked while handing his phone back.

“Why not green?” He responded while locking his phone and setting it to the side, giving his full attention to his now wide awake fiancée.

The blue-eyed male grumbled as he shifted around on the bed until he found his lap full of the Russian. Viktor stared up at his with one of his sinful smirks while wrapping arms around his waist.

“Good morning.” Viktor mumbled before purring something in Russian at the end of his sentence, He felt a blush heat up his cheeks as he stared down at his fiancée.

“M-morning.” He stuttered out while raising a hand to push some of Viktor’s silky silvery hair out of his face. The teen hummed while leaning into his hand, eyes shining brightly as they gazed into his.

“You really had me worried last night.” He blinked in surprise at the teens statement, not having expected it. He continued to soothingly run his hand through the younger males’ hair, much like he had been doing when the Russian skater had been asleep.

“Sorry.” He mumbled with an apologetic smile.

“You should have called me.” Viktor said while closing one eye as he swept the Russian’s bangs to the side. “We could have gone skating together.” He stared at the teen in surprise, not having expected the teens response.

He expected another scolding for leaving his phone behind, for going alone, for not telling anyone where he was going,

He hadn’t been expecting the teen to suggest going with him. He felt a soft smile raise to his lips as he leant down and planned a kiss onto Viktor’s forehead.

“Next time.” He ensured the teen, earning him a hum of approval.

“What did you do anyway?” Viktor enquired, a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. He gave a small shrug while returning to running his hands through Viktor’s hair.

“Skated a routine, nothing special.” He said with a small shrug. He let out a yelp when his fiancée pinched his side while staring at him.

“What routine?” The Russian questioned with a serious look.

“Does it matter?” He questioned in confusion.

“Did you skate it?” His frown only seemed to grown as he stared down at Viktor, “’Yuri on Ice’?” The teen stated with a hopeful look. He blinked in surprise before chuckling in amusement.

“I wasn’t aware you were that big of a fan of mine.” He said, watching as Viktor’s cheeks turned a lovely shade of red.

“Everyone knows about your secret ‘Yuri on Ice’ routine.” The Russian stated with a shrug.

“Oh really?” Yuuri questioned with a raised eyebrow. He yelped as Viktor pinched his side again. “Hey.” He whined while pouting down at his fiancée.

“What are your plans for next season?” Viktor asked, staring up at him with a serious look.

“Next season?” He echoed while lifting his gaze to the open window beside them. He stared outside for a moment before sighing. “I don’t know.” He admitted honestly.

“Do you want to come back?” Viktor asked, squeezing him around the waist. He thought about it for a moment.

Did he want to come back? Sure, his body could easily go through a few more years easily but could his mind?

The stress that came with the professional world of figure skating was a high one. He always had breakdowns and panic attacks at every contest. He fell into slumps of depression more often when he was skating.

But he enjoyed the ice, he enjoyed the moment he let the music take over and his body flew across on the ice. He enjoyed the cheers and gasps from the crowd as he did something no one has ever tried before.

Did the good outweigh the bad? Was the stress worth those little moments of pure bliss?

He turned back to the teen in his lap, who was staring up at him with wide eyes, waiting for his response.

“I’d have to look into a couch.” He pointed out, “And a skating rink, most people turn their noses up at the Ice Castle.”

He had expected an excited gasp or a mind-blowing kiss at his statement but Russian stayed quiet while staring up at him. He blinked while gently cupping his fiancées cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” He asked with a frown, while gently smoothing the boys’ cheeks with his thumbs.

“That means I’ll have to go back to Russia, doesn’t it?” He stared at the silvery haired male in confusion.

“I thought you wanted me to be your coach until your retired?” He questioned while staring down at Viktor in confusion. His eyes widen in shock as he saw the teens eyes start to water.

“Viktor.” He cooed gently while wiping away the few tears that started to fall. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

“If you come back you can’t be my coach.” The Russian stated while tears rolled down his cheeks. He frowned while gently wiping each tear away.

“Who said I can’t be both a skater and a coach?” He asked softly before leaning down to kiss Viktor’s forehead softly. “I’m going to be your coach. Wherever I go, you are coming with me, understood?” He stared down at the teen with a serious look, and only let a smile slip onto his cheeks when the silvery haired male nodded in head.

He leant down and planted a proper kiss on his fiancées lips, “I love you.” He mumbled softly against the Russian’s lips, earning a small giggle in response.

“I love you too.” Viktor responded with one of his joyful smiles he loved.

He was definitely in love with this boy.


	48. Chapter 48

He felt sick. The type of sickness that came with his anxiety. The type that made him want to vomit up whatever he had eaten that day.

He had been standing behind Viktor, as the six-qualifying skaters sat in a line in one of the media rooms, answering a few questions about their short program for the day before and their free skate later today.

Somewhere along the line, a reporter had questioned Yuri on his current opinion on the possibility of gaining all the gold metals that had been ‘rightful stolen’ from him.

He glanced towards the blonde from the corner of his eye, as the sick feeling started to grow in his stomach. He had hope to avoid any questions about his leaked medical history, since people were talking to the skaters and not their coaches, but it seemed they found a way to ask questions without talking to him. The room turned to the blonde Russian, waiting for an answer.

Yuri was silent for a while, simply staring at the report who had asked the questioned with a blank expression. “What medals?” Yuri finally questioned, “No medals have been stolen from me.” The blonde stated simply.

“The medals stolen from you by Yuuri Katsuki.” The reported prompted, causing him to flinch at the sound of his name. He let out a shaky breath as he felt someone grab his hand, he glanced towards Viktor who was looking up at him with a worried look. He gave a small smile while lacing their fingers together, the pair turned back to the other Russian, who had growled at the reporter in annoyance. 

“Yuuri Katsuki has not stolen any medals from me.” The blonde growled, “Yuuri Katsuki won those medals fair and square. So, what if the guy has a mental illness? If anything, shouldn’t we be more impressed that the man was able to compete and win while being sick?” Yuri questioned while crossing his arms across his chest.

“What has he done to lose his metals anyway? All skaters have to go through medical testing to ensure that no one is using any prohibited drugs, if the officials haven’t disqualified him for his medication by now, why would there be an issue now?” The blonde skater question with a raised eyebrow, leaving the room in a blanket of silence for a moment.

A couple of the Grand Prix organisers quickly stepped in before any more questions could be asked, informing the six skaters and their respected coaches that it was almost warmup time and that they could proceed towards the skating rink.

Yuuri sighed once he had exited the room, pulling off his glasses and rubbing his eyes.

“You okay?” He glanced up to see Phichit standing in front of him with a worried look after slipping his glasses back on. He opened his mouth to respond, only for the Thai male to turn to Viktor.

“Did he eat this morning?” He sighed as his fiancée nodded his head and start talking about what he had eaten this morning. He rolled his eyes as he moved around from his self-titled ‘second mother’ and his fiancée turned worrywart.

He spotted Yuri walking with Otabek, the couple talking quietly to each other.

“Yurio.” He called out, hurrying after the pair. The blonde glanced over his shoulder at his nickname but paused when he saw him, allowing him to catch up.

He paused in front of the blonde and gave him a small smile, “Thank you. For what you did in there. It means a lot.” Yuri grunted in response before turning away from him and starting to walk towards the rink.

“I didn’t do it for you, Katsudon, I did it because some people are assholes who need to be knocked down a peg or two.” The blonde said as he walked away. He glanced towards Otabek, who was standing there next to him rather than going after his fiancée.

“He doesn’t like people talking about how weak you are.” He blinked at the man’s words, “He inspires to be like you, even if he doesn’t act like it.” Otabek said before giving him a pat on the shoulder and hurrying off after Yuri.

He turned to follow the couple with his eyes as they caught up to each other and walked the rest of the way to the rink, side-by-side. Despite the distance they tried to put between each other during competitions, it was impossible to miss the way the gravitated towards each other.

“Yuuri~” A voice said before arms wrapped around his waist, he turned to his fiancée who was smirking up at him cheekily. “Where you asking for advice from Kotenok? Hmmmm?”

“Huh?” He questioned in confusion while staring at the silvery haired male wrapped around him.

“Because, I can ensure you, you don’t need any advice for the bedroom.” The Russian purred with a wink, earning a gasp and a deep red blush from him. He groaned as the teen burst into a fit of giggle while still hugging him tightly.

“You are too easy to tease.” The teen giggled as they stood in the middle of the hallway, minutes before Viktor had to step into the skating rink for his warm-ups.


	49. Chapter 49

Viktor stood there staring out of the ice.

For once he didn’t feel nervous, which was surprising because he should. He was planning on doing four quads during his routine.

Yuuri had handed in his planned jumps with only three quads, giving him the option if he needed to fall back onto it. But he couldn’t, he needed to win.

JJ, Chris and Phichit had already skated and it looked like it was going to be a very close call this year on who would win.

He turned to Yuuri, who was standing there watching him. The Japanese man didn’t look half as pale as he had earlier today. During the interviews, Yuuri had looked like he would excuse himself at any second to throw up, but had somehow held in there. He shrugged off his jacket and handed it to his fiancée.

“So, how do I look?” He asked with a bright smile. Yuuri glanced him up and down before stepping forwards. He stood frozen but followed the male with his eyes as Yuuri lifted a hand up to his hair and ran a hand through it. He stared at the older male as his hair just fell straight back into place.

“Viktor,” He hummed and tilted his head to the side, “I hadn’t wanted to mention it, but I feel like I have no choice.”

“Huh?” He questioned while frowning in confusion.

“I took a break after becoming the five-time world champion to coach you, so how is it possible that you still haven’t won a single gold medal?” His eyes widened as he stared at his smirking fiancée. “How much longer are you going to stay in warm-up mode?” He giggled while throwing his arms around Yuuri’s neck and pulling the older man into a tight hug.

“I’ll win.” He mumbled before releasing the Japanese man and stepping onto the ice while taking off his blade protectors. “I have to win after all. I can’t let Kotenok get married before me.” He smiled at the chuckle he got from his fiancée before taking a deep breath and moving into the centre of the ice. He waved to the crowd who cheered as he got himself ready for his performance. He took a deep breath before closing his eyes and tilting his head down.

This was his dance. His dance to express the love and longing he had for his beautiful fiancée. His dance to honour a champion that the world was missing. He took a deep breath as the music started.

He had to be the most elegant dancer. The most charming prince. A man calling for his love to never leave him.

He moved smoothly into the quadruple Lutz and landed it perfectly.

He smiled softly as he did the three circular rotations which lead into the quadruple flip, the one jump he could never fail on.

He had to bite back the smile that threatened to spread across his lips as the crowd cheer loudly for him. It was a sound he had never heard before; he honestly didn’t hear the crowd when he performed.

His body moved to the music as he got absorbed by the feeling. The spins, turns, the step sequences that Yuuri had spent so long teaching him until he had them perfect.

He let out a breath seconds before he jumped into the flying sit spin, he could still remember the first time Yuuri showed him the routine. The beauty and grace the senior skater had performed it with. It had taken his breath away. That was what he wanted to do, take everyone’s breath away with such a beautiful performance.

He rose from his sit spin as the music became softer before stepping into another complicated step sequence with spins and turns. He had never performed anything like this, having always been told to stick with his jumps because that was what he was good out. But training with Yuuri had opened his eyes to just how much ones’ presentation score could affect your results.

He barely noticed he had jumped until he landed, easily performing the quadruple Salchow that had been questionable the whole time. Despite how tired he felt, he knew he could do this. It didn’t matter that there were still six jumps left, another difficult step sequence to tie it all together and a spin combination at the end.

He took a small breath as he let the music completely consume him. He blocked out the crowd and focused on the music echoing in the back ground. It was such a beautiful song, a song of love.

He didn’t realise how absorbed into the song he was until he moved out of the quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and immediately moved into the spin combination.

He froze as the song ended, arms wrapped around his own shoulder as sweat gently rolled down his face. He felt exhausted, and confused, having blank out almost half of the song. He stepped out of his ending pose and span around on the ice as the crowd cheer loudly for him.

He smiled and took a bow as flowers and stuffed toys were thrown onto the ice for him. He giggled softly while blowing a kiss out to the crowd when something landed on his head. He blinked in confusion before lifting his hand up, his fingers brushed flowers and he smiled brightly as he settled the flower crown properly on his head before skating towards the exit where Yuuri was waiting for him.

He hurried to put his blade protectors on after stepping onto the ice before barrelling into Yuuri’s arms. He took a deep breath as he felt arms wrap around him and hug him tightly.

“You were perfect.” The Japanese man mumbled gently before they slowly pulled apart. He grinned as Yuuri helped him into jacket as they moved towards the kiss and cry.

***

Yuuri sat beside Viktor in the kiss and cry as they waited for the teens scores to be released.

He sat staring at the teen, who bounced one foot nervously while looking out over the ice. The blue flower crown that had landed on his head brought the blue out in his eyes, he noted.

He reached over and gently placed his hand on top of Viktor’s bouncing leg, drawing the teens’ gaze away from the ice and towards him.

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.” He ensured the Russian, getting a single nod in response.

“I don’t remember the second half of the skate.” Viktor blurted out, looking panicked at the fact. He stared at the Russian in front of him for a moment before chuckling softly.

“It happens,” He admitted, earning a surprised look from the teen, “Whenever it happens to me, everything just fades till it’s just the ice, the music and me.”

“Yes!” Viktor agreed with a nod of his head. “Everything just faded away and the next thing I knew, it was over.” The teen said with a sigh before bolting upright when the announcer began to spoke.

Yuuri felt his eyes widen at Viktor’s score.

“I DID IT!” Viktor shouted before he was knocked right out of his seat by the overjoyed teen in a tight hug. He chuckled as he hugged the teen back. The Russian teen had beaten his world record by roughly four points, it was a world record he had set during his first Grand Prix win and though he had gotten close, he hadn’t been able to quite hit it again.

“215.99!” He heard Viktor giggle as they hugged tightly on the ground for a moment longer. He finally broke them apart so they could get off the ground and head towards the group of reporters who were all trying to get some time with Viktor to talk to him about his new world record. He stood there smiling as the teen happily talked with the reporters before glancing around.

He frowned when he didn’t find the person he was looking for. He took one last glance towards Viktor before walking out the back as he heard Otabek move onto the ice. It took barely a minute to find the person he was looking for, standing beside a particular blonde Russian who doing a few final stretches before his turn on the ice.

“Yakov.” He called out, catching the attention of the three Russian’s standing around.

“Katsuki.” The Russian coach responded, staring at him questionable. “What do you want? It’s almost Yuri’s turn to skate.” He nodded his head while coming to a stop in front of the man. He had just opened his mouth when the older man waved him off.

“If you are asking me to take that wild-child back, I won’t.” He stared at the man hard for a second.

“No, I’m not here for that.” He stated, earning a questionable look from the man.

“Then what do you want?” Yakov huffed while crossing his arms across his chest.

“I want you to coach me.” He stated, earning a surprised look from the man.

“What?” The man mumbled out before he was grabbed and span around to face Yuri.

“You are coming back?” The blonde asked with an almost excited tone.

“Yes.” He said while giving his long-time rival a gentle smile.

“What about the shithead?” Yuri questioned, staring up at him.

“I will continue to coach him.” He ensured the blonde, “He’ll be around for a while yet.”

“Why me?” Yakov questioned, earning his attention back.

“I need a coach. You are one of the best around.” He stated simply. The older Russian just simply stared at him, clearly not accepting his answer.

He let out a small sigh, “If you say no, I’ll be going back to Celestino, the man would have me back in a heartbeat. But I want a change. I need a coach willing to help me improve. Celestino is a good coach, but he is better at helping a skater bring out there potential. I don’t need that. I need a coach willing to push me in ways I’ve never been pushed. I think you could do that.” He stood there staring at the famous Russian coach, who stared back at him for a long moment with a thoughtful look.

“The wild-child would be coming with you?” He nodded his head in confirmation.

“Yakov,” Yuri prompted while pointing towards the entry way. “We are running out of time.” The blonde reminded his coach who continued to stare at him before seemingly coming to a conclusion.

“Yes.”


	50. Chapter 50

Viktor frowned in confusion at the announcement.

He was in America for the first Grand Prix competition of the season. Though he wasn’t the one skating, Yuuri was.

This would be Yuuri’s second competition back, the first one being a small one to qualify for the Japanese Nationals later in the year.

He knew both of Yuuri’s routines, having been there for the gruelling hours of training Yakov forced upon the skating legend. So, to suddenly hear that Yuuri had changed his free skate routine out of nowhere was strange. He glanced towards the man beside him, who seemed unaffected by the announcement.

“Why did Yuuri change-“ He began asking before quietening down at the look he was given.

“He wanted to save it.” Yakov stated simply, “Wanted you to be there or something.”

Despite his former coach’s grumpiness, he had taken Yuuri under his wing and turned the five-time world champion into an even more formidable competitor.

Yuri had even been a bit more cheerful lately, to everyone’s surprise, at having his long-time rival back on the ice.

“Go find a seat.” Yakov told him while glancing down at his watch. He blinked in surprise before frowning and glancing behind him towards the backrooms where Yuuri was. He had wanted to wish the Japanese man good luck before his free skate, but since the man had excused himself to go to the bathroom, he hadn’t returned. He hadn’t looked overly nervous, just a little flustered and had ensured him that he just need a couple of minutes to himself.

He let out a sigh at the look Yakov gave him before nodding his head and heading towards the reserved seating. He saw Yuri seated along the backrow with his legs crossed and arms behind his head and sat himself beside the blonde who had come with them purely to see Yuuri skate. Skate American seemed like a pretty weak competition, with only Yuuri and the stupid Canadian as the only big names. Despite JJ’s flawless short skate, Yuuri had beaten the arrogant man by almost five points, barely missing Yuri’s world record.

“Why did Katsudon change his routine?” He glanced up at his fellow Russian and gave a small shrug.

“Yakov didn’t say and he sent me here before I could ask Yuuri.” He sighed before perking up as he spotted Yuuri stepping onto the ice. “Look! Look! He ever changed his costume.” He said in excitement while staring at the Japanese man who stood on the ice in a gorgeous, blue jacket with sequins.

“Love-sick fools.” He heard Yuri sneer beside him, he turned to the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

“What was that? Do I need to show you the pictures of what happened at last year’s banquet?” Yuri glared down at him before huffing and turning away. “That’s what I thought.” He said with a smirk before turning back to the ice.

He sat there watching as Yakov and Yuuri stood there for a moment, talking about something before the Japanese man turned around and headed for the starting position. He couldn’t help the giddy smile that appeared on his lips.

The music began with the beautiful sound of the piano and his eyes were drawn to Yuuri who seemed to immediately get absorbed in the beautiful tune. It was beautiful, watching the legendary skater on the ice once again. There was something different about watching in compete compared to train.

“So, this is his secret routine, huh?” He blinked and glanced towards Yuri for only a moment before his eyes were back on the beautiful man on the ice.

He couldn’t help the small, excited giggle that left him. This had to be it, it had to be ‘Yuri on Ice’.

“I married that man.” He sighed as the song finished before perking up when Yuuri glanced in his direction. He hurried to his feet and down to the stares, bobbing and weaving his way through the people until he got to the kiss and cry. He paused in front of Yakov, only grin when he was given a simply eye roll. He quickly wrapped his arms around his husband, who had not seemed to notice him coming if the jolt of surprise was anything to go by.

 “Yuuri~” He cooed, earning a chuckle as he was patted on the back.

“I’m all sweaty, Viktor.” He hummed and nuzzled into the other man’s hair.

“That was incredible. You were incredible. I’ve never seen you like that before. And that jump at the end.” He said excitingly while pulling back, he paused as he stared at the gentle smile on his husband’s lips.

“And the results are in. Yuuri Katsuki scores 218.12, beating the newly set world record by Viktor Nikiforov at last year’s Grand Prix Finals.” He let out a whine of defeat which caused Yuuri to chuckle and kiss his cheek softly.

“Better luck next time, love.” Yuuri said with one of his gorgeous smiles. He chuckled while squeezing his husband.

“Hey now. I have a gold medal to protect. Don’t think I’ll give it up without a fight.” He stated with a smirk.

“If would be no fun if you didn’t fight.” Yuuri chuckled before he pulled the man into a proper kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I change the name of the story. Have been thinking of doing it for a while but took me a while to come up with something else.
> 
> I would like to thank everyone for all the encouragement and support you gave me while writing this.
> 
> And yes, I will probably do a couple of one-shots to highlight a few parts in the story that I could never quite fit into the storyline. (Which will include a particular banquet)
> 
> I would like to thank in particular the following people, in no particular order, for the support throughout the chapters:
> 
> TheCauldron  
> digi_smile  
> Helvetica01  
> OMGTHEFEEL  
> AnimeKitten  
> Lone77  
> leafpool5  
> MalevolentMagician  
> WinterfellsDaughter  
> Incendio_3  
> katsudom
> 
> Feel free to follow me on tumblr: kasumi-chou  
> I mainly do spam posts of things that are pretty or stories I have stumbled across.  
> But if you want to ask me any questions, you can bug me there


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